Guns and Roses
by xxxsaltinexxx
Summary: Deidara, a local gangster, is kidnapped and forced to join the Akatsuki: a gang that is known internationally for their skill. SasoDei, rated M for language and mild gore, and sexual themes :'D Please read and review
1. Prologue

Deidara took a long drag from his cigarette and looked up at the empty night sky. In the city, there was no way he'd be able to catch sight of any stars, no matter how hard he tried. Even from the part, which was located far from the metropolis he lived in, there was only black. He squinted his eyes and adjusted himself on the park bench, exhaling a mouthful of smoke. The city was still buzzing with life, but the park was much more peaceful. Only a few people walked by every now and then, and they hardly paid the blond any attention, which was more than okay with him.

The night slowly inched on, and as much as Deidara wanted to grab another cigarette, he refrained. Instead, he settled on checking his watch. It was getting late, and just knowing the time made him a little more drowsy. But it wasn't the time for sleep; he had things to do, and people to meet.

Maybe a little walking would wake him up. Yes, that was a great idea. Deidara hoisted himself up, flicked his cigarette butt onto the ground, and began to walk. Where, he didn't exactly know. But he couldn't go too far; he was meeting up with someone in a few minutes, and tardiness wasn't his style. He walked in a circle, so that the scheduled meeting place was still in sight at all times. It only took a few minutes, however, before he got bored and decided to sit down again.

From the corner of his eye, he saw two more figures nearing him. One had pitch black raven hair that practically blended into the night sky, while the other had red hair that Deidara would have been able to see from a mile away. Uninterested, he reached for another smoke. Before he had even gotten his hand into his pocket, however, he noticed that the two figures had stopped in front of him. "Deidara?"

Immediately, a smirk crossed the blond's face and he stood up to greet them. He reached out to shake the redhead's hand first. He was considerably shorter than his traveling mate, and sported a pair of skin tight jeans and a crisp, white dress shirt. The other was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a t-shirt.

"How did you know, un?"

"We just looked for the first person who looked even remotely like a drag queen," the taller man stated flatly. Unable to contain himself, Deidara scowled. This wasn't worth his time.

"Look, I'm kind of busy, un. We might have to meet again some other time," he spat, eyes narrowing at the two. He had too much dignity to deal with these morons.

"Why don't you hear us out first? You were the one interested in meeting with us, after all," the redhead pointed out, hardly fazed by Deidara's sudden curt attitude.

Deidara had to keep himself from visibly rolling his eyes. "I told you, I'm busy, un," he repeated, turning to leave. Before he could make it more than two steps, he was seized by the arm and pulled backwards much harder than he would have liked. He inhaled sharply, but quickly regained his composure. "What the hell, un?!"

The dark haired man narrowed his eyes, and Deidara swore that he could have seen a flash of red in them. But the intensity of his gaze made the blond want to look away as quickly as possible. He could feel adrenaline begin to course through his body, knowing very well that he was in danger. "Let me rephrase my previous statement," he began, seizing Deidara by the back of the neck. "You're not leaving. You are going to come with us, and you are not going to protest. Do you understand?" He hissed, each word sending a chill down the blond's spine.

Frightened or not, there was no way in hell Deidara was about to put up with this thug. "Let go of me, un," he demanded calmly. He always gave them one warning. After that, he considered it fair game.

Sure enough, the man didn't listen. Deidara managed to dislodge the vice grip on his neck and spun around with the intent of landing a punch right in the middle of his attacker's stomach. Rather, he felt his fist getting caught before it even got near its target. When he looked to see what had gone wrong, he found the redhead crouched in front of him, hand locked firmly around the blond's wrist. For a moment, he couldn't help but wonder how that had happened; he hadn't even saw the other man move.

"No matter how skilled you are, you are vastly outnumbered," the redhead stated flatly. If anything, he looked bored with the current situation. "Although this is a poor example of your skill, I have no doubt that you will be an asset. However, you are completely oblivious, and your skill level fails to match up to the size of your ego."

"What the hell are you—"

Without giving him a chance to finish his sentence, the redhead shot forward, slamming Deidara in the neck with as much force as he could muster up. Without a considerable reaction, the blond collapsed to the ground, unconscious.


	2. Chapter 1

Much of what happened next was a blur to Deidara. He clearly remembered being attacked and knocked out, but that was it. By the time he woke up, he was on the cold, wooden floor of a stranger's apartment building, with several people surrounding him. His first reaction was to jump up and try to escape, but the pain coursing through his neck was enough to send him back to the ground the first time he tried to stand up. Upon feeling the jolt through his neck muscles, the blond knew he was lucky he hadn't been put into a coma. He hadn't gotten hit that hard in years. He had always landed the first punch...this was something completely new to him.

"I see you're finally awake." The speaker was a tall man with spiked ginger hair and at least a dozen piercings on his face. He sat across from Deidara in a beaten up wooden chair, wearing jeans and a black t-shirt.

"Maybe if that dumbass hadn't hit me so hard, I would have woken up sooner, un," Deidara shot back. He wanted to go home. This is not what he had signed up for at _all_. "You'll be lucky if I don't press charges for—"

The man rose a brow. "I'd like to see you try."

"Pardon me, un?"

"It would actually be stupid for a criminal of your caliber to go to the police for help. I do applaud you for trying, though."

Deidara squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. Damn, it looked like they had actually done their research. "What do you want, un?" he asked, lowering his voice considerably. He stood up again, this time with every intention of attacking if need be. Although it was unlikely that he would be victorious, he refused to let his guard down. He kept an eye on the four people in the room. Upon closer inspection, he realized that two of them had been his kidnappers.

When he got no response, Deidara could begin to feel an intense rage build up inside of him. Despite the danger he was in, his temper refused to control itself. "He," Deidara began, using one of his hands to motion to the redhead. "mentioned that I would be an asset. What the hell is up with that, un?" he growled.

"You are the final piece that this organization needs. We have individuals skilled in everything you can imagine. Everything except firearms and explosives. Which, as I know very well, is your forte."

"And you thought it was necessary to kidnap me in order to explain this to me, un?"

"You were, as Itachi and Sasori explained to me, about to leave."

Oh, he had got to be kidding. "Oh, gee, that's funny. Did they also mention that they called me a drag queen right off the bat, un?" Deidara asked, venom dripping from every one of his words.

This time, the redhead butted in. "What do you expect? You were wearing more eyeliner than any girl I've ever seen. And look at what you're wearing, child."

Deidara looked down at himself. He had been wearing skinny jeans and a sky blue shirt that clearly looked like it had come from a womens' clothing store. He could feel his face growing hot, but he didn't say anything.

"Sasori, not now. Are you one for gambling, Deidara?" the man decorated in piercings asked.

The blond rose a brow. "I can't say that I'm in the mood right now."

"Hear me out first. You can pick one person in this room. With them, you will have a one on one fight. If you win, I'll let you walk out of here, and sever all connections with you. However, if you lose, you're staying."

Without even thinking about it, Deidara nodded his head. "Alright. I want names first."

"Pein," he replied. "The redhead is Sasori, the man next to him is Itachi, and the girl sitting beside me is Konan."

Deidara nodded and looked at his options. The girl, who was sitting quietly next to Pein didn't look like she'd be much of a challenge. She had blue hair that was tied up in a loose bun on the top of her head, and was wearing a bright red sun dress. She had paid no attention to the conversation until she heard her name. Even then, she only looked up for a moment before going back to work on a complicated piece of origami. It would be an easy win, but his freedom wasn't worth beating a girl.

Pein, who was obviously asserting his authority over the others, was most certainly not an option. He was the leader for a reason, and it didn't take a genius to figure that out. Sasori had been the one to knock him out, which easily eliminated him, too. This was not the time for revenge, no matter how much he desired it.

That left Itachi. The boy had sat there silently, eyes staring at Deidara the entire time. His long black hair was in a loose ponytail, and on his face, two thin scars ran beneath his eyes. He was wearing the same outfit that he had on when he confronted Deidara for the first time, so not much time could have passed. If he was lucky, he could get home by sunrise.

"I'll go up against Itachi, un," Deidara said with a smirk. The man hadn't even moved out of Deidara's way when he had thrown the punch. That could have been interpreted in many different ways, but the blond was an optimist.

Itachi shrugged and stood up out of his chair. "Very well." He towered over Deidara by at least six inches, but it wasn't intimidating; he had fought several huge individuals in his time. He moved so that he was a few feet away from Deidara. "Your move."

Without wasting a second, Deidara lunged at his opponent. Rather than striking him head on, he jerked himself to the side at the last second and slammed into Itachi. Or at least he thought. Rather than coming into contact with him, the blond felt himself falling to the ground. When Deidara jumped back to his feet, he was surprised to find that Itachi had refrained from hitting him while he was down.

Again, he lunged, this time, grazing the side of Itachi's face. He kept continuing his futile attacks, barely making contact with his opponent. And with every missed punch, he felt himself getting considerably more frustrated.

"Pein, if I were sleeping this kid still wouldn't be able to hit me. What, pray tell, were you thinking?"

"Hey, un!"

"I'm done." For a brief moment, Deidara had honestly thought that he had won. That is, until he saw Itachi lunge at him. He tried to jump out of the way, but Itachi managed to seize a handful of his hair and slam him into the wall. He tried to squirm away, but stopped when he felt something press against his neck. His blood ran cold, knowing exactly what it was. Cool metal pressed against his jugular vein, threatening to break through the skin at any moment.

_Damn it, damn it, damn it!_ Deidara frantically through of a way to get himself out, but none came to him. He lost. It took a moment for the words to hit him full force. He was stuck.

When Itachi was sure that the blond had fully absorbed his defeat, he removed the knife and slipped it back into his pocket. Moments later, he was back in the chair he had occupied before the fight.

Now, Pein stood up and approached the dejected blond. Without any sort of sympathy, he looked him straight in the eye and held out his hand. "Welcome to the Akatsuki."

Deidara sat in the middle of what was going to be his new room. Pein had arranged for him to move out of his apartment and into the Akatsuki base. He also gave the blond a warning not to escape; the entire base was underground, and he could get lost for months in the tunnels. Just walking out the front door wasn't an option, either; there was almost always someone keeping watch.

So, rather than plotting his escape, Deidara settled on staring at his fingernails. He was an internationally recognized mobster, and he had gotten himself stuck in an absolutely ridiculous predicament. He had been responsible for several recent bombings, and the police had never come close to catching him. Through bribes and other means, he was able to keep himself off of the most wanted list, keeping him from being one of the justice system's top priorities. So how was it that he had been beaten twice in less than twenty four hours?

The concept was still fascinating to him. Still, he was beginning to understand. The Akatsuki was very well known. They were the best of the best, and only recruited those who were at the top of their game. They didn't waste their time with fools. And if one did manage to get into the organization, they didn't last long. It was very much like a cult, but without the religious obligation. In wearing a ring with a specific symbol on it, they showed their loyalty. If anything happened to that ring, there better have been a good excuse.

Deidara heard the door to his room open, but he didn't even look up. He knew who it was, and there was no way he wanted to communicate with the bastard. Pein had explained to him that they had partners so that they kept each other in check. The last thing the blond needed was a babysitter. Especially when that babysitter happened to be none other than Sasori Akasuna. The bastard had been going solo for almost a year, and it was time that he started working on group projects again. The partner system was good not only for keeping everyone balanced, but it ensured less casualties and complications.

What this organization's goal was, Deidara still had no idea. They were well known, but no one knew their motives. Deidara, up until this point, hadn't cared enough to research it; he was busy with his own aspirations. Before, all Deidara had focused on was striking fear into the hearts of his opposers, as well as making some quick money while he was at it.

"You should have picked Konan."

"I have better things to do than beat up a girl, un," Deidara grumbled. In his book, chivalry wasn't dead.

The redhead smirked. "I'm not saying you would have beaten her. If anything, it would have been a less embarrassing defeat."

Having no desire to speak to Sasori, the blond got up to leave. If he was going to be stuck here for God knows how long, he might as well get himself acquainted with the place. He was not getting off on the right foot with this man, and the last thing he wanted to do was get knocked out. Again.


	3. Chapter 2

Deidara, not two weeks later, found himself trudging through an abandoned school building. The walls were covered in graffiti, dirt, and chipped paint, and it was obvious that the "No Trespassing" sign outside was not enforced.

In front of him was a man with shaggy brown hair who seemed rather uninterested in talking to the two Akatsuki members. "So, you have a link to Oto?"

"Un," Deidara said with a nod. Sure, it was a blatant lie, but the brunette didn't know that. They had gotten themselves this meeting by pretending to be part of a different gang. A rivaling one, at that. According to Sasori, it was nothing new. As long as they didn't reveal their identities, or make a lasting impression, they were fine. But the blond couldn't help but wonder how it was possible _not_ to, since the intention was to beat the man to a pulp.

"How has Orochimaru been? I haven't seen him in years."

"Running a plethora of experiments as usual," Sasori replied. "He's been more interested in them, if that's even possible."

The brunette nodded. "Lovely. I take it he's gotten some new inventions?"

"Yes, although he's been keeping them from the public for now. Saving them for something important."

"That's very like him."

While the two chatted, Deidara had no idea what was going on. He had heard very little about Oto; they were a gang that never wandered into his territory much.

Their target led them into an old science room, and closed the door behind them. It locked itself, so that no one could enter from the outside. "I'm sure you're aware that we didn't come here for idle chatter," Sasori stated, quickly changing the subject.

"Of course." The brunette took a seat and slouched over, showing that he had complete trust in the two Akatsuki members.

"For a number of years, you worked closely with Orochimaru, correct?"

"Yes, I was his right hand man for a few months. I guess that was a long period of time, compared to the others."

"What made you leave?" Sasori inquired calmly, taking a seat across from him. "You could have stayed for years if you wanted to. Orochimaru had no intention of getting rid of you."

The man nodded. "Yes, but I couldn't."

"Why?" This is what they needed. This bit of information was what the entire assignment depended on.

He sighed heavily. "It became too much. I couldn't handle it."

"Why, un?" Deidara inquired. This man had sparked his curiosity. Perhaps he should have researched more about Oto before they had left.

The brunette shot him a puzzled look. "Isn't it obvious? The experiments...some of them, I just couldn't handle. What he did to the prisoners there was absolutely sickening. I could handle it at first, but when Kimimaro came in, and they began to perform bone marrow experiments...it became too much. It was disgusting."

"What was the point? He never told us why he carried out the experiments," Sasori lied. In fact, he knew absolutely nothing about Kimimaro or the experiments.

"He was trying to completely transform the human body. Why? I don't know. But he went through so many bodies..."

Sasori's eyes widened slightly, and without thinking, spoke. "Pein was right." His words were loud, and once he and the brunette realized what had been said, they stared at each other, wide eyed and horrified.

"You...you're with the Akatsuki!" the brunette shouted, launching himself out of the chair. "You fucking trash, what are you-"

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the room, and the man's hands shot up to his stomach. Slowly, red began to seep through his dress shirt. All eyes were on Deidara, who had, for the most part, been sitting quietly throughout the conversation. In his hand was a pistol, which had evidently hit right on the mark, since the blond was smirking slightly.

The wounded man tried to speak, but nothing came out. He tried to step forward, but crashed to the ground, barely alive. After he fell, blood began to drip onto the ground and quickly began to pool around him.

It wasn't until Sasori heard shouts from the other side of the building that he reacted. "Run." Without waiting for Deidara, he bolted out the door. The blond followed behind, but not at a pace that his partner was happy with. Sasori stopped for a moment, and as soon as Deidara caught up, he seized his wrist and broke into a sprint. The voices were getting closer, but they were still out of sight. If they could get out of the building and into the city, they'd be fine. It wasn't a surprise that the dead man had guards around the building. Any man knowing that he was dealing with Oto would.

"You are an absolute moron!" Sasori spat, dragging Deidara by the wrist so that he wouldn't fall behind. "I don't know what the hell Pein was thinking, letting you into this organization."

"Oh, pardon me for being _forced_ into the Akatsuki, un!" the blond shouted in reply. He tried to pull his wrist free, but it was no use.

"You could at least _try_ to be useful! You're nothing but a dead weight!" Sasori spat, pulling Deidara along even quicker. The faster they got out of their current predicament, the better. No thanks to the blond, they were currently being chased by more than a few dangerous opponents.

"Pardon me for saving your sorry ass, un!"

"I would have been better off without you there, you brat!"

"Shut up, un!" God, he hated that name. Not even a day after Deidara had been completely moved into the Akatsuki, Sasori had started on him with it.

Not bothering to reply, Sasori pulled the both of them to the left and bolted down an unmarked street. The two of them dove into a series of bushes, and stopped their bickering long enough to see if their attackers would pass. Sure enough, they did. One stopped to look down the street, but the lack of movement made him decide to keep going. Still, they waited a few minutes before climbing out and brushing themselves off.

"Now, pray tell, what made you think it would be a good idea to shoot the man we were supposed to investigate square in the stomach?" Sasori asked, narrowing his eyes at his partner.

"We had all the information we needed, un. It wasn't like I compromised our end goal for it," Deidara pointed out. "Besides, those goons were going to come after us anyway."

Sasori rubbed his temples gently in an attempt to calm himself down. If anything, it made things worse. "Do I really need to explain to you why this is a problem?" The blond just stared at him, uninterested. "You are actually incompetent. Why would you do something so _stupid_?"

Deidara scowled and began to walk back in the direction of the Akatsuki base. "Stop giving me this Spanish Inquisition act, you prick, un." He had long since given up on the idea of running away. He had tried to bolt on their first assignment, and Sasori had nearly broken one of his ribs. At this point, he was hoping that they'd get tired of him and just let him go. As unlikely as it was, Deidara liked to think that it was at least somewhat possible.

He heard footsteps approaching him, and assumed it was Sasori simply following suit. And yes, it definitely was Sasori. The bomber didn't realize something was wrong until a hand rested on his shoulder and turned him around. Before he could react, Sasori had retracted his fist and punched him square in the face.

"Un!" Deidara grunted, hands shooting upwards to cover his face. "What the fuck!"

"You're still horrendous at short range defense." Sasori's hand drifted towards the gun attached to his belt loop, and Deidara got the memo to stop their spat. From there, they walked back to the base in silence.

As they got nearer to the city, people passed them from all directions. It was a Friday night, and they all wanted to go home after a long day at work. This was the best time for Sasori and Deidara to travel; it was a bit slower, but there was no way they'd be spotted in such traffic. The two paid each other no attention; Sasori didn't want to be bothered, and Deidara was too focused on how much his face was going to bruise.

It wasn't until they reached the Akatsuki base that they spoke again. "Try not to be such an idiot next time," Sasori spat, nearly slamming the front door in Deidara's face. The blond would have asked what the hell his problem was, but he wasn't in the mood. Rather, he made his way to his room so he could take a shower.

Once in the bathroom, he stripped off his clothes and glanced at himself in the mirror. Already, his face was beginning to change a different color. His nose was still numb, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before. Hopefully it wasn't broken; there was no way he'd be able to get it fixed. Since joining the Akatsuki, he had lost a significant amount of weight. Not because they were starving him; they didn't care how much food he ate. His appetite just wasn't there.

With a heavy sigh, he turned on the shower and waited until it was hot before stepping in. This whole thing was ridiculous.


	4. Chapter 3

Deidara got up out of bed, sore and in no mood for social interaction. The bruise on his face had been nearly unbearable for a few days. Now, it was sickly green, but the pain had subdued considerably. It only only hurt when he touched it. The problem with that was that the blond would constantly touch his face to see whether or not it still hurt. Sure enough, it did every time.

Cursing to himself, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a loose, light green dress shirt. He vaguely remembered getting it from a womens' clothing store, but pushed the thought out of his head. Out of sight, out of mind at this point. He trudged into the kitchen, intent on getting a glass of water. He hardly ate full meals anymore, but he was never hungry.

A few other Akatsuki members were seated at the table, casually talking amongst themselves. Within the first few days, Deidara had been introduced at least once to everyone in the organization. He had no opinion of them, and really had no desire to get to know them any better.

As he poured his water, he saw that Itachi was sitting across from Kisame, listening to him talk over a bowl of cereal. From what Deidara had observed, the Uchiha hardly spoke. The blond could care less what they were talking about, so as soon as he had his water poured, he left.

Sipping his water as he went, Deidara made it back to the room, not surprised to see that Sasori was sitting at his desk, carving away at a block of wood for one of his puppets.

"Brat, did you file the report for our last assignment?"

Deidara sat himself down at his own desk. Unlike Sasori's well organized working space, the blond had papers scattered everywhere, with no sort of division between drawings, reports, and miscellaneous scribbles. "Good morning to you, too, un. And yes, I did," he said flatly.

It didn't take long for Deidara to find out that his partner was always a massive prick. No matter what he did during their assignments, Sasori always found a way to tear him to pieces. It was no wonder the man had worked alone for God knows how long. Anyone who got stuck with him would never make it more than a few weeks.

But somehow, the blond had. It was, more likely than not, because he was just as bad to Sasori. When he was provoked, he stopped at nothing to tear his victim down. It hardly worked on the redhead, but it at least made him feel better after getting a slew of verbal abuse thrown at him.

"Good. At least you got that part of our assignment right."

Deidara tried to keep his mouth shut, but he couldn't help it. He spun around in his chair and glowered at the redhead. "You keep acting like I fucked the whole thing up, un!"

"That's because you did," Sasori said calmly, not moving his eyes from the puppet he was working on.

"If you're going to insult me, at least look at me while you're doing it, un."

"You're not worth the effort, brat."

Letting out an irritated shriek, Deidara stormed from the room. It was too early to deal with this shit.

His partner was such a dick! What the hell had Deidara even done, anyway? The blond cursed Pein for teaming him up with such an asshole. They had to be putting him through some sort of test. They just had to be. There was no way that a human being could be so horrendous on a daily basis.

Much to his dismay, the more he thought about this being a set up, the less realistic it seemed. He was stuck with the redhead for good, and that was that. But why him? Even after the humiliating defeat, he would have rather worked with Itachi. Or Konan. Or anyone, really.

He stormed down one of the hallways, not really sure as to where he was going. If it got him away from Sasori for a few hours, he didn't mind at all.

Wandering wound him up into more than a few dead ends, but it was no big deal; there was no place he had to be, and nobody needed to see him. It wasn't until he had been walking for a good half an hour that he ran into another Akatsuki member. It was Konan, who was practically pressed against the wall while she walked. In her hands, she held a piece of origami paper that had been half folded into what looked like a type of exotic bird.

"Hey, Deidara," she greeted softly, not looking up from her work. She had stopped talking to greet him, and he did the same.

"Hi, un."

"How are you?"

_Horrendous, because I've spent God knows how long cramped in this stupid building. _"Good, un," he replied, forcing a smile onto his face. She smiled back, still not looking him in the eyes.

"Have you eaten anything today?"

Why did she care? "Not really, un."

"Oh. Aren't you hungry?"

The blond shrugged. "Nope, un."

She glanced up at him for a brief second, and then back down at her bird. "How has Sasori been?"

At the mention of his partner's name, Deidara had to do everything in his power not to visibly scowl. "He's...okay, un."

"So you hate him."

"...Well..."

"You're holding up better than most, Deidara."

He blinked a few times. "That's...oh. Uhm...thanks, un?" _Only because I've dealt with worse,_ he silently added.

"Don't let him get to you. He's like that all the time. I guess you just have to let him grow on you."

This time, he couldn't help but laugh. While he tried to contain himself, Konan just stared. She didn't seem uninterested, just...not all there. "Sorry, un," Deidara apologized, taking a deep breath to calm down. "I can't see it, is all, un."

"It takes time."

"Do you like him?"

"These people are all I've got. Eventually, you hate them so much that you end up having to like them, if that makes any sense. When you hit rock bottom, there's no place to go but up." And with that, she turned away from him, still working on her bird. "You should get something to eat," was the last thing she said before heading on her way.

Sasori hated people. That was nothing new to his coworkers. He worked alone, and he only enjoyed the company of a few people in the Akatsuki. Before Deidara joined the organization, he would often get to choose who he would work with on his duo assignments. Itachi was always his first choice; he was efficient, and never spoke more than he needed to.

Deidara, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. The idiot never thought before he acted, and was so irresponsible that Sasori had to constantly hound him to make sure everything actually got done. The only credit that he could give the blond was that he was absolutely ruthless. Although he had royally screwed up their last assignment by shooting their target in the gut, his lack of hesitation and regret was impressive. That, and he hadn't even seen Deidara move his hand before the shot was fired.

These strengths, however, did not make the boy any less annoying. He acted—and dressed—much like a teenage girl, and irritating didn't even begin to describe how awful it was. So, he began to do what he had done every other time he got stuck with an imbecile he couldn't stand: made their lives a living hell. It wasn't much of a challenge, considering how all he had to do was throw in a few (completely true) insults in here and there, and the job was done.

With Deidara, it wasn't that easy. Unlike the others, he pushed back. He got fed up with Sasori and stormed out of the room on multiple occasions, but he always came back. It wasn't pushing him to his limits. He must have gotten this sort of abuse before, and it hadn't been enough to traumatize him.

This morning, Deidara's fuse was particularly short. After a quick exchange, the blond had stormed out of the room, intent on going who knows where. His loyalty was still debatable, so he was still forbidden from leaving the Akatsuki headquarters without an escort. That left only the hallways to explore. There were plenty of them, but they didn't lead anywhere; they were mostly fakes in case of a raid.

Sasori didn't really care where the kid went; he just wanted some peace and quiet.

After he had wandered just about everywhere he could, Deidara made his way back to the kitchen for some food. He settled on an orange. It wasn't much, but he wasn't all that hungry. Part of him was just eating because Konan had told him to. He quickly peeled the orange and dumped the skin in the trash before heading back to his room. By the time he arrived, he had practically inhaled the fruit. He pushed the door opened, and went to slide it shut with his foot.

Unfortunately for him, that ended with the door getting shut much louder than necessary. And there was no way in hell his asshole of a partner was going to let it go. _Oh, here it comes..._

"Brat, do you have to make so much noise?" Sasori snapped, slamming his carving tool onto the table.

"I've been gone for almost two hours, un!"

"Don't treat it like you've been gone for years. What made you come back so soon?"

"Are you that eager to get rid of me, un?" Deidara inquired, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sasori sighed heavily and began to massage his temples. If anything, it was making it worse. "As a matter of fact, yes, brat."

"What did I do, un?"

This time, the redhead spun around and made direct eye contact with Deidara. And as soon as it happened, he wished that it hadn't. Sasori's eyes were filled with loathing that the blond had never seen before. The man got up from his desk, and Deidara instinctively took a step back and put his hand near his back pocket. If things got bad, all he needed to do was cock his pistol and fire it. "Look, kid. You are one step away from being a full blown drag queen. It is actually _embarrassing_ to drag you around with me everywhere, and you don't know how to follow even simple instructions!"

"I look _normal_ compared to half of the people in this organization! Have you seen Pein's face recently, un?" Deidara spat back, taking a step forward. He wasn't about to let this guy push him around. "And at least I'm not a huge dick! You're such a jackass about _everything_, un!"

"At least I'm not a huge faggot!"

"What...did you just call me, un?"

If that wasn't bad enough, Sasori continued on. "You heard me. I'm lucky I haven't caught a disease from you by now. Just breathing the same air as you is disgusting."

For a moment, silence descended upon the two of them. Deidara said nothing, and Sasori stood there, waiting for him to react. By the look on the blond's face, he knew something was about to happen.

Unfortunately, it seemed he spent too much time focusing on the verbal reaction that he had completely forgotten about the physical one. In a split second, Deidara was only a few centimeters away from him. Before he had time to give a substantial reaction, a pair of hands grabbed his waist and chucked him across the room like he was a rag doll. Sasori's back slammed against the wall, and before he even slid all the way to the ground, Deidara had already grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and began to repeatedly slam him against the wall.

Sasori tried to fight back, but none of his hits landed. Either that, or Deidara simply didn't react to them. After what was probably enough hits to give the redhead at least a minor concussion, Deidara threw Sasori to the ground and pinned him down. With one knee securing the redhead in place, the blond began throwing punches, hitting his partner wherever he could.

"I hate you, un!" he screamed, punching Sasori square in the jaw. He could have sworn he heard a crack, but pretended not to notice it. For a spindly little boy, he had one hell of a right hook. "Do you think I want to be here, un?!" Another punch. "Why do you have to make my life so _miserable_!" Another.

"Deidara—"

The high pitched scream that came from the blond's mouth was more than enough to shut him up. "I. Hate. You!" he shrieked, slamming his fist against Sasori's chest every time he finished a word.

At this point, the redhead had given up on resisting. Rather, he had taken to staring at the ceiling and taking whatever blow came his way. He expected at minimum a broken bone, maybe two.

What he did not expect was for Deidara to be thrown off of him and seized by none other than Kisame Hoshigaki. Even when the blond was removed from him, he had no desire to get to his feet. The only thing that really made him get up was when he realized that Pein had entered the room. Deidara was still shouting obscenities, even with Kisame's hand clamped firmly over his mouth.

"Both of you. My office. Now."

Deidara sat in a beaten up wooden chair, face hidden in his hands. He hadn't been in a situation like this since high school. Embarrassing didn't even begin to cover it. Everything that had just happened was a blur.

"What the hell is wrong with the both of you?!" Pein barked, slamming both of his hands down on his desk. "Is it so goddamn hard to ask you two to behave in a civil manner? With the both of you constantly at each other's throats, how am I supposed to get anything done?"

Sasori didn't bother to say anything. He knew Pein wasn't done, and anything he said now would be useless. Deidara looked absolutely crushed, much like a puppy after it had been severely beaten.

"God, I don't even want to look at the two of you," the Akatsuki leader grumbled, completely disgusted.

"Shall we dismiss ourselves?" Sasori inquired, being careful not to stand up before Pein had said anything.

"You two...are going to go on a scouting mission. Why? Because I want you to get the hell out of my sight for at _least_ a week. But please, by all means, feel free to take your time. In fact, I encourage you to take longer."

As soon as Deidara realized that this assignment meant being alone with Sasori for a week minimum, he had to keep himself from groaning. _There's no way I'm coming back alive._

"Very well. Where will we be going?" Sasori inquired, as if it he were hardly phased by the idea of being stuck with his moron of a partner for a week.

"Itachi has spotted several Oto members in the outskirts of the city. As you know, it's much closer than usual, and worth taking note of. They don't know that Deidara is part of the Akatsuki yet, so he's perfect to use before gathering information."

"If he doesn't do anything stupid this time."

"Hey, un!"

"Both of you get the hell out of my office."


	5. Chapter 4

The two Akatsuki members traveled along a busy sidewalk, heads down with no desire to speak a word to each other. Sasori was boiling mad, and Deidara was sulking like a child. The two had left before the sun had even risen so that they could beat the morning commuters. Only a few people were out walking at the ungodly hour of five in the morning, making it rather easy for the duo to get around. It was only three miles until they hit the outskirts of the city, and another mile until they reached the spot where Itachi had spotted the first of many Oto members. Although it was quiet a distance from the Akatsuki base, it was still close enough to be dangerous.

As the two traveled, an uncomfortable silence loomed over them. Sasori seemed not to notice, but every once in a while his partner would fidget or walk just a little bit differently to make some noise. It was subtle enough that the redhead didn't notice, but enough to keep Deidara sane for a little bit longer. To try and pass the time, Deidara slipped a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, relishing the feeling he got upon his first inhale of smoke. Out of all the things he lived for, this was one of them.

But as he smoked away his cigarette, there was still an eerie lack of noise. He wanted to say something, but what? There was no doubt Sasori would snap at him; it was his fault that they were stuck with this assignment in the first place. Since they had been dismissed from Pein's office the previous day, they had been on even worse terms than before.

"This is the second time we've been sent out to get information about Oto, un," Deidara stated, unable to deal with it any longer. Go ahead, let his partner yell at him. That was the worst he could do, wasn't it? There's no way he'd cause a scene in the middle of the city. Especially at this hour. The last thing they needed was someone calling the police on them for unnecessary noise.

"Yes."

The silence settled in on them again. "Why?"

"They're dangerous."

"They can't be that bad. I've never heard of them, un."

"That's because they don't waste their time with fools, brat."

"Seriously, Sasori. What's so important about them, un?" Deidara asked, too tired to get into a spat. All he wanted was to curl up in bed...or get some breakfast. Either or would have been lovely. After eating barely enough to keep himself running for the past few days, hunger was beginning to hit him. Hard.

"They're not exactly thrilled with us."

"So, un?"

"Brat, they are one of the most powerful gangs in this entire country. We've rubbed each other the wrong way more than once, and now they're planning something big. For the past few months they've been getting closer to us. Little by little, so we don't notice. We're trying to hit them before they can hit us."

"...Oh, un," Deidara said. He had nothing else to add, and just settled on walking along with his eyes drooping every once in a while. Whenever he began to slow down, he woke himself up for fear of Sasori yelling at him. It wasn't the fact that Sasori was constantly rude. No, it was that Deidara _knew_ he would react. He just couldn't help himself. Sudden waves of anger would come over him, and release no matter how hard the blond tried to contain them.

"The first sighting that Itachi noted was the river just outside of the city. As of right now, we have about two miles before we get there. I'll have to keep myself out of sight, since Orochimaru knows exactly what I look like. You, on the other hand, will be looking for anything that you can find that might be of use to us."

"Okay, un." He had done this on his own dozens of times. And the fact that they had no idea what he looked like? That was going to make the whole thing a breeze. As always, he still brought his weapons as a precaution. You never knew when you'd need to blast someone's brains out.

At around six o clock, they had reached the outskirts of the city where the river began to shrink itself down. It tricked down the side of a main road before making a sharp turn into a small settlement of trees. There was very little grass on the ground; it had to have been used as a running trail recently.

"I'm going to ditch, un."

"I have my phone on me. Let me know if you do something stupid."

"Piss off, un."

With that, Deidara separated himself from the redhead, strolling around to get a good look at his surroundings. There was no real dead end, making every direction a reasonable escape route. Besides the running trail, the area looked like it had never been occupied.

Deidara had been in the criminal business long enough to know that there was something up. The more subtle it was, the more likely he was to dig something up. The thing is, he had to go into this mission looking for something. What it was didn't really matter. But he needed to keep his eyes peeled for anything unusual. After six years of this shit, it wasn't that hard to do. It was like his brain began functioning in a completely different manner. He was almost separated from himself. There was only the job in front of him, nothing else.

There was no sign that they had dug any holes into the ground, but there were certainly plenty of trees around. The poor things already looked like their lives were winding down, so it wouldn't be too noticeable if Oto made a few compartments to store their shit in.

With that in mind, Deidara began his search. He weaved in and out of different paths, looking wherever he could. There were a few slips of paper here and there, scrawled with handwriting so messy he could hardly read what was being said. Nonetheless, he took pictures of each item before slipping them into his pocket.

After fifteen minutes of searching, his stomach began to grumble. Great. He really should have gotten some breakfast before he left. Sighing heavily, Deidara leaned against a nearby tree, pushing onto it with his full weight. Had he noticed the cracking coming from the tree, he probably would have moved before his elbow busted clean through it. He let out a cry, immediately pulling himself away. _Wait... _Rushing back to the tree, Deidara stuck his face as far as he could into the hole. Damn it, it was too dark to see anything. With a scowl, he plunged his hand into the hole, a smile breaking across his face when he felt plastic. He pulled out everything he could, finding everything from unlabeled bagged items, to numerous unlabeled files. This had to be important. Why the hell else would it be here? Trying to keep himself composed, Deidara snapped pictures of everything he found and stuffed it all into the backpack he had brought with him, looking around as he did to make sure no one was there.

As he was busy zipping up his bag, he heard his phone buzz in his pocket. Immediately, the blond whipped it out of his pocket. The only one that would try to contact him at this hour would have been Sasori. Sure enough, it was.

Some guy's been on my tail for a while. See if you can get him. I'm near the clearing. Deidara read the text and sighed. This wasn't going to be good. There was never just one of them out there. He had found what he needed, so heading back to Sasori probably wasn't that bad of an idea. That way, at least they could take out everyone they needed to at once. If he was lucky, maybe he could snipe the stalker following the redhead on his way back. He didn't dare pull out his phone again. All of the information he needed was on there. He also stuffed whatever he could in his pockets. Sure, they were going to know that Akatsuki was there, but if they were already on Sasori's tail, it wasn't going to make much of a difference either way.

Right now, Sasori was an ally. Despite the fact that he had been forced into the Akatsuki and the redhead had been absolutely horrendous to him, work was more important. Oto sounded more dangerous than anything Akatsuki could muster up and quite frankly, he was curious. He walked as casually as he could back to the forest clearing, getting close enough so that he could see Sasori walking aimlessly around the area. It was just like he had come there for a walk before work. Unfortunately, the gang knew his face too well.

Deidara glanced around as casually as he could, and caught sight of a man only a few meters away from his partner, gun in hand. The kid was shaking; obviously he was new to the workings of these organizations.

"Hey, un!" Deidara shouted, loudly enough for the kid to accidentally fire the gun straight up into the air. Sasori whipped around, grabbing his own weapon. Before the kid could pull himself together, Deidara managed to get to Sasori's side, hand on his back pocket. The gun was already cocked, but he wasn't sure if he'd need it; the kid hardly looked like a criminal.

Then again, that was how Deidara had gotten himself by for so many years.

"Get out here," Sasori growled, so forceful that the boy had been scared into revealing himself. The boy was pointing his gun straight at Sasori, and just from the angle Deidara could tell that if he actually fired it, it would hit Sasori straight in the heart. Their enemy most likely was not aware of this. He looked white as a sheet, unable to do anything but stand and shake in front of his opponents.

"Orochimaru must have sent you out as a scout, yeah?" Sasori inquired, finger right over the trigger of his gun. One wrong move and the kid was done. When he got no answer, Sasori fired, letting the bullet whiz right past his enemy's head. At this, the child nearly fainted. "Answer me."

"Y-yes..."

Great, this wasn't going to get them anywhere. "You don't look like a criminal, un," Deidara commented, completely changing the subject. He knew calming this poor fool down would get them a little further. "Could you see yourself killing this man? He has so much ahead of him...an entire life to live. Are you willing to be responsible for taking that way, un?"

"I...I have to!"

"Why, un?"

Their opponent shifted his weight from foot to foot, not taking an eye off of Sasori. "You're from Akatsuki."

Sasori scowled, baring his teeth at the boy. "Fuck this shit," he growled, moving to point his gun at the boy's head. The next thing he knew, there were two shots and a blood curdling shriek. He could see the boy fall to the ground, a shocked expression on his face. Blood had began to drip from his mouth and nose, indicating that he had been shot.

"Christ, what the hell, Sasori, un?" Deidara screamed, using his gun to try and bash his partner over the head. His other hand was dangling at his side, but the redhead paid it no mind. Rather, he was more interested in defending himself from his enraged comrade. "Goddamn it, I was handling it fine, un! What made you think it would be a good idea to butt in!?"

At this, Sasori scoffed. "Handling it? You weren't going to get yourself anywhere! That kid was a brainwashed thug!"

"You fired at him first, un!" Deidara shrieked, managing to successfully hit Sasori in the face with the butt of his gun. "I can't believe you, un!"

By now, Sasori had lost interest in Deidara's verbal attacks. He had dodged several more swings from the blond, mind turning to try and find an answer to a pretty serious question. "Deidara?"

"_What, un?!_" said blond spat, taking another swing at Sasori's head. This time, the redhead managed to catch it and pry the gun from his partner's hand. There was still the chance of getting hit, but it wouldn't be nearly as painful this time.

"Where did the second bullet go?"

At this, Deidara had to stop for a second and think. He had ceased his attacks, and was now looking around. "Must have missed."

"Why do I not believe you?"

"Did you get shot, un?"

"...No."

"Then it missed, un," Deidara snapped, storming by the redhead. "I'm stopping at a pastry shop. I want breakfast."

Sasori managed to scramble to his feet and catch up to the blond. "Brat, you don't have any money."

"You're paying for me, un."

"Why?"

"Because you just fucked this up! God, after how much you talked about _me_ screwing this up, you've really got to be kidding me, Sasori, un." Sensing another outburst, the redhead decided to shut his mouth and let it slide. Looks like he was getting the both of them breakfast.

It wasn't until they were nearing the shop that Sasori noticed something was wrong. Every once in a while, Deidara would wince. When asked about it, the blond would give a vicious reply, seemingly ready to tear his partner apart. That being said, Sasori wasn't ready to drop it. He waited until he sat down and had the blond cornered to speak again.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, un." Oh, great, the kid was starting to act like a teenage girl. It didn't help that he looked like one, too.

"Brat, I'm not stupid."

"I'll take care of it when we get back to the base, un."

"Take care of what?"

Rolling his eyes as if he already told Sasori, the blond jerked his left hand out of his pocket and held it up for his partner to see. In the center of his palm, the skin had been pierced, and blood was practically pouring out of the wound. Squinting at it, Sasori could see that a bullet had smashed its way into several of the bones in Deidara's hand. "What the hell!" Sasori hissed, grabbing the blond's hand and yanking it closer. "Did you shoot yourself?!" That was the only reasonable explanation he could think of.

"I am an expert in firearms. What makes you think I'm careless enough to shoot myself, un?" Deidara retorted, wincing slightly as Sasori began to move his hand. "Watch it, un."

There were several things the redhead could have said in reply, but he held his tongue. Now was _not_ the time to start a spat. "When did this happen?" Sasori asked as calmly as he could. Several of the bones were shattered. There was no way they'd be able to go to a hospital, so they'd have to wait until he got back to headquarters to have the wound treated. Hopefully, the bones wouldn't start to heal themselves by then.

"When that moron fired off his gun."

"The first time?"

"No, the second, un."

"You said it missed!"

Deidara blinked once, then twice. "...Yeah, un. It did."

"Are you stupid? That didn't miss!"

"It missed _you_. I caught it before it got you right through the chest. You would have been dead as a doornail, un."

Sasori opened his mouth to speak, but words refused to come out. He...caught it? There was no way that blond moron would have been able to see the bullet, never mind catch it in mid air. "Are you kidding me?"

"Does it look like I'm kidding you?"

"Forget about breakfast. We need to get back to headquarters. _Now_."


	6. Chapter 5

Deidara was nothing short of rushed back to the Akatsuki base and dragged down to their medical room. Konan was sitting there, reading what looked like an old, beaten up copy of "Gone with the Wind." It wasn't until Sasori began shouting orders at whoever would listen to get Deidara's hand fixed that her head snapped up and she reacted. The blue haired woman practically bolted from her chair and seized Deidara's wrist, sitting him down in the first chair he could find.

She stared at his bleeding hand for a moment before looking up at him, and then back at the hand. "Did you shoot yourself?"

"No, un," Deidara grumbled. What the hell, did they honestly think he was that stupid? He didn' dare ask the question out loud for fear of the answer he would get. "I...accidentally caught a bullet."

"Accidentally?" Konan inquired, raising a brow. It was definitely the first time she had heard that one. While the blond spoke, she got up and retrieved a few tools to fix up the wound. Thankfully, the bone hadn't begun to heal yet. Once she got some anesthetic in him, she'd be able to dig the bullet out and patch his hand up.

"Kind of, un. There was this kid from Oto, and he had a gun pointed straight at Sasori. I thought I could shoot him first, but I was off by a second. The gun was pointed straight at Sasori's heart, so I just kind of reacted, I guess, un."

"...How did you even see it?" Konan asked incredulously.

"I kind of guessed, un."

"You kind of _guessed_? Deidara, humans can't pick up a bullet right after it's been fired out of a gun. There's no way."

"Well. It's in my hand, un. So evidently I—OW!" Deidara screeched, previously unaware that Konan was about to inject him with anesthetic.

"Sorry," she said, a sheepish smile making its way onto her face. "Don't worry, the wound isn't too bad. You'll have to have a cast for a little bit, though. You've shattered at least three bones."

"Oh, lovely, un."

As she worked at Deidara's hand, she began to talk to Sasori. "Weren't you supposed to be out for a week?"

"Yes. We were going to run by that area a few times throughout the week. That is, until we ran into that kid."

"What did you do with the body?"

"Just left it. Oto will find him before the police."

Konan nodded solemnly. "I see. You know, I'm going to have to report this to Pein..." she trailed off, knowing very well that the Akatsuki leader still wanted nothing to do with them. She stopped talking for a moment to get up and dig out the materials for a cast.

Deidara watched her, thinking about what she had said. _The papers!_ "Konan, I got information for Pein."

"You did?" Both Konan and Sasori asked at the same time, thoroughly shocked. Deidara had to keep himself from saying something snide. He couldn't get over everyone constantly reminding him that they thought he was incompetent.

Nodding, he used his good hand to motion to his backpack. "They had stored some files in a tree. I grabbed everything I could, and booked it. Along the way were several notes, but I don't know if they were related, un." Immediately, Sasori shot out of his chair to grab the backpack. Upon bringing it back over, he wasted no time in practically tearing it open and taking the contents out. Sure enough, there were several sets of files that had been clipped together neatly. "The notes are in my pocket, un," Deidara said quickly, digging into his pocket to pull out a handful of crumpled papers. "I can't read them, un."

Sasori took a look at them, unable to read what was easily the most horrendous handwriting he had ever seen in his life. "I'll give it to Zetsu. He'll probably be able to figure it out."

Konan nodded in agreement, wrapping up Deidara's wounded hand. "Definitely. I'll bring the paperwork to Pein."

"Should we be present?" Sasori inquired.

"If you'd like. I don't think it'll make much of a difference either way," she admitted. For a moment, she looked at the blond. "I'd leave this for at least a week or two. I'll check on you every couple of days to make sure there's no sort of infection."

With a frown on his face, Deidara nodded. The anesthetic had yet to wear off, but the idea of being stuck in this damned cast was more than enough to rotten his mood. "I'd like to be there, un."

"I guess I'll go, too."

Pein spread the files out on his desk, with Zetsu standing behind them. They were typed, meaning that they wouldn't have to debate over what each word said. It had to have been because of Kabuto, Orochimar's right hand man; he preferred everything to be orderly and easy to understand. What he failed to realize was how much easier it would be for their opponents to interpret.

"Zetsu, I'll let you have a look at it first," Pein said, motioning for said man to take a look. Gone for less than twenty four hours, and these two morons had managed to bring back something good; the ginger didn't need Zetsu's help to figure out that much.

Zetsu's solid yellow eyes scanned over the papers, and every once in a while he would pick one up to scan it more closely. Judging by the expression on his face, there wasn't even a chance that he had discovered something groundbreaking.

Deidara watched him intently, trying to catch a glimpse of the papers whenever he could. Upon finding out that he wouldn't be able to read through any of the documents until they had been sorted and recorded, the blond was more than disappointed. He had checked the pictures on his phone, but the words were hard to see. So far, nothing interesting.

Eventually, Zetsu set the papers down on the table. The four other Akatsuki members stared at him eagerly, waiting for his analysis. He took a deep breath, and began to speak. "They're records. Mostly of people who have been abducted by Oto. Experimental results, types of conditions the hostages have been living in, things of that sort. Assuming that it is accurate, it would be extremely helpful for the Akatsuki to analyze it further."

"Why wouldn't it be, un?" Deidara asked, part of him refusing to believe that he had retrieved faulty information.

"Oto has some of the most manipulative, deceiving human beings I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. That being said, it doesn't make sense that they would hide such important records in the middle of the woods. Especially since they would have to physically print them and transport them. Especially with Kabuto in charge, everything has been computerized. Not only that, but they could back it up thousands of times without any of the information ever having to leave their headquarters." Deidara shrugged. Unfortunately, it sounded like Zetsu was right. He couldn't help but feel disappointed that his work had gone to waste. "Either way, I'll look over these for the next couple of days to see if they can be of any use."

"Albeit short, I'll be sure to record this as a major success," Pein remarked, eyeing Sasori and Deidara as if to remind them that he was still pissed beyond belief at them. "I take it there were no injuries?"

"...About that," Sasori began, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. There was a number of ways this could go, and unfortunately, he couldn't think of a positive outcome. Upon seeing Pein grimace, he decided to say nothing else and let another one of the Akatsuki members handle it.

"It's treated," Konan said, in a pathetic attempt to comfort the ginger.

"What happened, dare I ask?" Pein asked, visibly preparing himself for the worst. Thankfully, nobody was dead, but the things he were imagining weren't much more comforting.

"I...accidentally caught a bullet, un," Deidara explained slowly, holding up his damaged hand.

Pein blinked once, then twice, letting an uncomfortable silence hang in the air until he gathered together enough words to make a proper sentence. "You accidentally _caught_ a bullet," Pein repeated incredulously. Even Zetsu seemed to be showing quite a bit of shock at the statement.

Deidara nodded once, not sure of what else he could say. "...Yeah. It was close range, so I ended up shattering three bones, un. But at least it didn't go through."

Pein sat there, absorbing what was happening. "What, may I ask, where you doing when you caught this bullet?"

"Saving my partner's sorry ass, un," the blond replied bluntly, smirking at the Akatsuki leader. "The gun was pointed straight at his heart, and I figured you'd be pissed if I let him get shot, un."

No matter how much Deidara insisted that he had caught the damned bullet, Pein couldn't help but stare, unsure of what to say, do, or think. In all of his years of running this gang, he had never heard of such a thing. Finally, at a complete loss for words, he stood up and shook his head. "Zetsu and I are going to analyze the files. Just...get lost for a little while, okay?" Pein requested, too shocked to do anything else.

A few days had passed, and Deidara had heard little to no word from their leader. He was curious about what he had found, but not enough to ask Pein directly. That, and the blond assumed that the Akatsuki leader was still pissed about he and Sasori trying to kill each other.

To make the time pass, Deidara did everything from working on art to simply wandering around the base. More often than not, Deidara found himself gently running his fingers over his wounded hand, curious as to what the healing flesh looked like. He didn't dare try to check it; despite the numerous murders he had committed, he wasn't one for blood and guts. Once he shot someone dead, he preferred to avert his gaze and go on his way. There was no reason to look at disgusting, mangled bodies if he had already gotten what he needed.

He desperately wanted to go outside, but knew he would have to have an escort with him. That escort most likely being Sasori. As much as he desired to sit outside and get some fresh air, the berating he would get from his partner simply wasn't worth it. And if anything happened, Deidara didn't stand a chance with only one good hand.

That being said, keeping his temper in check was more difficult than he had originally thought. Sasori was a prick 24/7, and as much as he would like to believe the redhead was like that to everyone, it was extremely unlikely. Now, though, Deidara found himself being able to completely block out the redhead.

Deidara wandered into the kitchen and cursed silently. _Speak of the devil..._ Sure enough, his partner was sitting at the kitchen table, exchanging a few words with Kakuzu. The man had a sandwich in front of him, and his mask was pulled down to his neck. Out of curiosity, Deidara snuck a quick look at his face, and had to keep himself from gasping out loud. Deep gashes covered Kakuzu's face, and had been sewn shut with thick stitches that made his face look nothing short of a doll out of a horror movie.

"Brat, stop staring. It's rude," Sasori said, narrowing his eyes at the blond.

_Damn it, you bastard,_ Deidara grumbled silently. Oh, he could have curled up and died right then and there. Kakuzu made eye contact with him, but said nothing. Though there was no emotion on his face, Deidara couldn't help but feel guilty beyond belief. Obviously he must have been somewhat self conscious about the wounds; why else would he cover his entire face? "Have you heard anything from Pein, un?" he asked, trying his best to act as if Sasori had never spoken.

"No."

"Oh, un."

"There's a letter for you on your desk, though. Konan wanted me to let you know."

"We get mail, un?"

"No shit, brat."

Groaning, Deidara stormed out of the kitchen, intent on going back to his room. On the way there, he practically ran into Konan. "Deidara?"

"Sorry, un," the blond apologized, giving her a sheepish smile. "I was going to go open that letter you left for me."

"Okay. Do me a favor and let me know who it's from, okay? There wasn't a return address."

Deidara furrowed his brow. What? "Then how did it get here?"

Konan shrugged. "It must have been delivered personally."

He almost asked her if it was dangerous for someone to know where the headquarters was, but quickly decided against it. No point in getting her worried over nothing. With a quick wave, he ducked into his room and practically tore open the letter on his desk. The only thing on the front of the envelope was Deidara's name, written so neatly that the blond originally thought it had been typed.

_Deidara,_

_First, I'll give you a formal welcome to the Akatsuki. We have heard quite a bit about you already from several sources. It sounds like you're quite the pyromaniac. _

_From what we know, you've received our welcoming present. We were worried that you wouldn't be able to find them. Thankfully, you're quite the sharp little bugger. Most likely, you gave it right to Pein. We don't want to tell you whether or not the information we so generously gave to you is useful or not; we don't want to ruin the fun. _

_We do look forward to dealing with you in the future. You know what they say; the bigger they are, the harder they fall._

_And my, we look forward to seeing you crash and burn._

_~Oto_

_P.S. Do let Itachi know that he should try to be a bit more subtle next time._

Deidara read the note again, trying to absorb what he had just read. This had to be a joke. There was no way. How had they known?

With a trembling hand, he put the note down and felt his blood run cold.


	7. Chapter 6

Deidara paced back and forth in his room, heart pounding so heard against his chest that he was pretty sure it was going to burst. He needed a smoke. Now. Throwing his desk drawer open, he began to fumble with the package, trying to pull out a cigarette. Then, he remembered that Sasori also lived in this room, and would flip a shit if it smelled like cigarette smoke. _Like that matters now,_ Deidara thought to himself, fishing through his pocket to pull out his lighter.

Still, for good measure, he left the room and bolted back to the kitchen. Kakuzu and Sasori were in the same spot, but Konan had also joined them. They were obviously in the middle of a conversation, but stopped short when they saw the distraught blond burst into the room.

"Are you okay?" Konan asked warily, getting up in case the boy suddenly decided to pass out. This way, she'd have a better chance of catching him. When he shook his head "no", she gave him a puzzled look. "What's going on, Deidara?"

"I need to go outside for a minute, un."

"Deidara, you can't—"

"I'll be right back. I swear, un. Follow me if you want, but I need to get out, un," he blurted out, cutting Konan off. Without giving them a chance to protest, he stormed out of the building, lighting the cigarette as soon as he got out. This wasn't good. What if there was someone outside of the base right now? No! He couldn't think that way. But it could have very well been true. Maybe they had followed Sasori and Deidara back from their recent assignment.

Deidara took a long drag from his cigarette, blowing the smoke out slowly in an attempt to calm himself. It felt good, but it wasn't working. He needed to talk to someone.

As soon as he finished the cigarette, Deidara made his way back inside as calmly as he could. Rather than running in like a crazed maniac, he was now shaking like a leaf. Which, unfortunately, wasn't much better.

"Are you going to tell us what the hell that was, brat?" Sasori inquired, looking at the blond like he was absolutely insane.

Deidara made his way over to the seat beside Konan and practically fell into it. No matter which way he said it, he knew there was going to be a major reaction. So might as well just spit it out. "I got a letter, un," he began, forcing the words out the best he could. With trembling hands, he took it out of his pocket and flattened it on the kitchen table. All three of the Akatsuki members sitting around him leaned in to get a closer look. Before he could say anything else, Sasori had snatched it out of his hand and began to read it aloud. Once he had finished, he slowly put the paper back down on the table and slid it back to Deidara.

"Shit," was all Kakuzu managed to get, pulling his mask back up to hide the shocked expression that had made its way onto his face. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then slowly opened them again. "This is going to blow."

"That's an understatement, Kakuzu," Konan murmured, taking the note from Sasori to read it for herself. "We can't even pass this off as a joke. It's Orochimaru's handwriting, no doubt."

"Pein needs to hear about this immediately," Sasori stated, receiving nods from the others.

"I'll go show him," Konan said, pocketing the note and rushing from the kitchen.

For a few moments, a heavy silence hung over the remaining three. Deidara tried as hard as he could not to look at the other two Akatsuki members. It would be best for him to leave and just go back to his room, not an ounce of him wanted to. He could feel adrenaline coursing through his body, and no matter how hard he tried to calm himself, it refused to go away.

"Brat, do you have a cigarette?" Sasori asked, breaking the silence.

The blond shot him a puzzled look. "I thought you didn't smoke, un."

"I don't." Rather than pressing the matter further, Deidara pulled one of the sticks out and gave it to him. Sasori took it, and without another word, got up and went outside.

_Well, I suppose there's always time to start_, Deidara said to himself before burying his head in his hands, completely forgetting that Kakuzu was sitting right next to him. Long after he left, Deidara picked his head back up and stretched his arms. What was he going to do now? He felt much calmer than before; terror had turned from adrenaline to a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. Maybe sculpting would help. Still shaking slightly, the blond got up from the desk and trudged back to his room, thankful that Pein had allowed him to bring his clay.

Deidara, once in his room, made his way to his desk and pulled out a huge mound of clay. He didn't need any tools; using his hands always gave him a better result.

Not long after, Sasori came back, rubbing his temples as if it would help relieve some of the new stress that had been thrown onto him. The blond went on working, acting as if he had never seen his partner enter in the first place. It was, after all, Deidara who revealed that Oto had sent him a letter, and he knew very well that Sasori would place most of the blame on him.

"Brat, that cigarette tasted like shit."

"It's not my fault you wanted one, un," Deidara shot back, not bothering to look up from his work. He had started to construct the body of what was going to be a small bird, and was deeply involved in his work.

Before their conversation could get any further, their door creaked open and Konan poked her head in. "You guys might want to go into Pein's office."

Approximately five meetings and three emotional breakdowns later, Sasori and Deidara had landed themselves yet another assignment. A near by madame was hosting a ball that at least one member of Oto was certainly attending. If it was the right one, Pein and Konan would kidnap the man and beat all of the information out of them that they could. Sasori and Deidara were needed for nothing more than scouting out the area to find the man.

"They probably already know we're going, un," Deidara stated glumly. Hardly an hour had passed since his last smoke, and he already needed another cigarette.

"Perhaps," Pein replied, nodding once. "However, that is a chance we're going to have to take. Prepare yourselves for any conflict, but try to keep out of sight."

Sasori nodded. Deidara, on the other hand, looked like he was going to be sick to his stomach. If they already knew that Akatsuki was going to be there, there was a large possibility that they would have some sort of trap planned. If that was the case, it would be likely that the two were throwing their lives away by going to this damned ball. To add onto it, neither of them were unknown now. After shooting one of their men, Deidara had gotten himself directly involved with Oto.

"If you play your cards right, they won't notice you," Konan said, trying her best to make the situation seem slightly less horrendous. "They're far larger than us, so not all of their members are filled in. Especially when it comes to appearances." There was a long pause, and Konan could do nothing but shrug. "I'm sure you'll figure something out."

Sasori rolled his eyes. "As much as I'd like to agree, I can't help but feel like Deidara is a bit...hard to forget."

"What's that supposed to mean, un!?" Deidara asked, narrowing his eyes at the redhead.

"Transvestites stick with you a long time, surprisingly enough."

"Look who's talking, you fucking leprechaun, un!"

Pein slammed his hands down on his desk, silencing the two artists immediately. "Look," he began, squeezing his eyes shut in a failed attempt to calm himself down. He didn't shout at the two, but it was obvious that he was pissed, stressed, and exhausted. "Konan will help you pick out some clothes. As capable as you two are, I think it would be best if she dressed you for the event. And as she said, you'll probably figure something out. Why? Because it's your necks on the line. Not mine."

"Yes, sir," Both Deidara and Sasori said in unison. Konan led them out of the Akatsuki leader's office, and directly into her room.

"Sasori, I'm sure you have something in your closet."

The redhead nodded. "Obviously. He forgets that I happen to enjoy these types of events."

"I'm sure you'll be able to handle it on your own," Konan said from her closet, already digging through what she had. For a brief moment, Deidara questioned why the woman was digging through her own closet for an outfit. Choosing not to ask, he sat himself at her desk and watched, somewhat amazed by all of the formal clothes she had.

"I'll double check with you in a few hours. But I'm sure there won't be any problems on my end."

That left Konan and Deidara. Part of him was truly afraid to ask what she was looking for. It was obvious that she had a specific outfit in mind, but the fact that she was not only digging through her own closet, but couldn't immediately find it was not a good sign. From Deidara's experience with women, it meant that the thing was horrendous. If it was in the back of her closet, it was there for a reason.

He wanted to believe there was a suit hiding all the way in the back of Konan's massive closet. But as she emerged from the closet and he caught sight of bright red, saying he was dismayed would have been an understatement. Horrified seemed to be the more appropriate word. She turned around to show it to him, and he could only stare, mouth hanging open.

"That has to be the most horrendous thing I've ever seen, un," was all he could get out. He was going to try and be nice about it, for fear of hurting Konan's feelings, but he couldn't. The words came out before he had a chance to think about them.

"It's not _that_ bad," Konan protested, stroking the article of clothing with her spare hand.

Deidara rose a brow. "When the hell did you even wear that, un?"

Konan had to think for a few minutes before answering. "You know...I don't think I ever did. Someone must have given it to me for a birthday or something."

The blond groaned. "I feel like there's a reason you never wore it, un."

"Nonsense! It'll look great on you. Besides, it's perfect for the event."

It took all of Deidara's will power not to say anything else. _She's just trying to help_...he told himself, but it did no good. First Oto getting on his case, and now this. Things really couldn't have gotten any worse.


	8. Chapter 7

"Deidara, you can't _both_ wear suits. It'll be too obvious," Konan told him, thrusting the article of clothing into his hands. It was made out of a very nice feeling material, but that was the only good thing about it.

"This...is a dress, un," Deidara said, staring at it as if it were going to bite him.

"Why don't you try it on?"

"I...don't think it will fit, un," he lied, trying to hand it back to her.

"Oh, no, no, we're practically the same size! If anything, you're smaller than I am," Konan insisted, thrusting the dress back into his arms. "Try it on!"

With a defeated sigh, Deidara made his way into Konan's bathroom and stripped off his clothes as slowly as he could. He could already feel his dignity taking its last few breaths. By the time he had gotten the dress on, it was completely gone. It was a horrendous long sleeved thing, with a tight bodice and a gathered skirt. For the event, Konan decided that bright red would be the best. It was bright in normal light, but when they got into the ballroom he would blend into the crowd better than anyone else there. The sleeves had to be long to hide Deidara's biceps. For a man, they would hardly be considered large. But as a woman, he would like like he was on steroids.

"Konan, don't you think this is a bit...much, un?" Deidara inquired, stepping out of the bathroom. He used her full body mirror to try and get a better look at the dress as he spoke. He turned every way he could to get a good look at the dress in its entirety. "And do tell me again why I have to be dressed like a woman, un."

"Oh, you look adorable. You're the only one besides myself that could pull off looking so effeminate." Deidara rolled his eyes. Gee, thanks. "And we're hoping that if they see you as a woman, they won't associate you with the Akatsuki."

"Are you sure someone from Oto will be there, un?" Because he was going to be pissed beyond belief if he spent an entire night in a dress that was already beginning to squeeze the life out of him.

"Ninety nine percent sure. Trust me, you'll know him when you see him. The guy has a huge tattoo that covers most of his body. Kind of hard to miss."

Deidara nodded. "And what do I do when we find him, un?"

"Pein and I will be nearby. Just call us and we'll take it from there."

"...So do tell me again why _you_ aren't going to this party, un?"

"We created the Akatsuki. Remember? They'll recognize us almost immediately."

"Oh yeah, un."

Deidara found himself pulling on the same dress seven hours later. By some miracle, he had managed to get both the hook and eye and the zipper without any help. The last thing he wanted to do was ask Sasori to get it for him. The bastard would probably try and get the zipper caught in his skin, or something equally horrendous.

The two had been changing in opposite corners of the room, and it wasn't until Deidara turned around that he saw what his partner was wearing. The redhead had gotten into a recently pressed tuxedo, more than prepared for the black tie event. The thing was obviously worth a lot of money; Deidara could tell just by looking at the tailoring. For a complete douche bag, he looked pretty good in the outfit.

"Are you ready, brat?" Sasori asked, but after one look at the blond, he rose a brow. "Fix your hair."

At this, Deidara scowled defensively. "What's wrong with it, un?"

"For one, you still look like yourself."

Any other time, he probably would have decked Sasori right in the face. But in this particular situation, he had a point. With an irritated sigh, Deidara stormed into the bathroom and let his hair down before twisting it into a bun. One thick piece hung down, which the blond used to make a braid around the bun. There, that had to have been good. He looked at himself in the mirror and had to keep himself from gagging. He was wearing even more eyeliner than usual, and somehow got stuck wearing fake eyelashes, more eyeshadow than he thought humanly possible, and a bright red lipstick that almost exactly matched his outfit. Save for the fact that he had just done the makeup, he never would have recognized himself.

"Is this good, un?" Deidara asked, peeking out from the bathroom.

Sasori looked him up and down with no change in expression. "Well, you look more like a woman than a drag queen. So I guess it's an improvement."

"Whatever, let's go, un." Deidara turned to leave, but Sasori cleared his throat, making him stop dead in his tracks. "What, un?"

"You forgot something important." The blond rose a brow, waiting for what it was. What else could he have possibly forgotten? "We're dating."

"_What!?_" Deidara screeched, eyes widening so much that for a moment Sasori thought they would burst out of his head. "Who the _hell_ came up with that idea? Because if you don't remember, I absolutely fucking _hate_ you. If you and Hitler had your lives in danger, and I had to pick one to save, I'd probably choose Hitler, un!"

Sasori couldn't help but chuckle at this, seeming overall uninterested. "I figured. You'll have to thank Konan for this predicament later. For now, you're going to have to play along." With that, Sasori approached the blond and grabbed hold of his hand. "Just remember that gangsters and models go together like peanut butter and jelly."

"I am _not_ a—Oh." He had fully expected the redhead to call him a skank, and began talking without actually processing any of his partner's words.

"What did you think I was going to say?"

"Nothing. Let's just go, un," Deidara grumbled, letting Sasori lead him out of the room. The next time he saw Konan, she was dead.

By the time they arrived downstairs, the party was in full swing. Perfect for the two Akatsuki members to slip in without being noticed. They had no idea who was throwing the party, but assumed it would become obvious as the night went on.

Sure enough, the host got up not minutes later and said a few words before retreating from the stage to allow the band to begin their music. They started off with a waltz, and it wasn't long before people took to the dance floor.

"I'm going to kill her, un."

"Can you dance?"

"Yes, un."

"Then I suppose we should."

It was then that Deidara realized that there was not only some sort of deity out there, but it was a deity that loathed the blond with every fiber of its being. "I suppose, un." With a fake smile, Deidara allowed himself to be led to the dance floor. He couldn't even count how many times he had done this for business. He'd make them blend in with no problem at all.

It wasn't long before they were waltzing with the rest of the crowd. They knew not to show too much skill, for fear of attracting attention. Rather, they stayed with the basics and a few twirls here and there. It wasn't until halfway through the song that the two Akatsuki members began to make eye contact. Considering the blond's foul mood, it was Sasori who was first to speak.

"Brat, when did you get so good at dancing?" Sasori inquired as they moved about the dance floor. One arm was tightly locked around the blond's waist, with another grasping his hand.

Deidara smirked. "It's a lot easier to get what you want out of a girl if you know how to dance, un," he said, reluctantly allowing Sasori to lead him in the dance. It was a simple waltz, so neither of them were likely to mess up. Still, the blond didn't enjoy the lack of power.

At the response, Sasori snorted. "What, un?!" the bomber snapped, using all of his willpower to keep from hitting the redhead. God, this man was impossible.

He leaned close to Deidara, making it look like the two were having an affectionate exchange. "I hate to break it to you, kid, but I've never met someone so gay in my entire life."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, un!" Deidara shouted, digging his nails into the redhead's shoulder. His partner didn't wince, but he knew he had left a pretty substantial mark.

"Shush," Sasori hissed, purposely stepping on the blond's foot. The two of them stumbled, but Deidara managed to quickly regain his composure and glare and his partner. "I can't exactly see you getting it on with a girl."

"I didn't mean it like that, un! And just because I'm in a dress doesn't mean I'm—" Upon seeing Sasori's expression, he stopped talking. "I'm bi-curious, okay, un?"

"You, brat, are a flaming homosexual."

"I am not! I've dated plenty of girls, un," Deidara hissed.

"Oh, there's no doubt you have. Business requires it, does it not?" Sasori purred, twirling the blond before he continued. "Judging by how you reacted the first time I called you a fag, I figured it was pretty obvious. That, and you haven't been very subtle about looking at just about every guy's ass in here."

"It takes one to know one, you dumbass, un," was all Deidara could shoot back, immediately overwhelmed by how stupid he sounded. He kept a fake smile plastered on his face, so anyone who looked at him thought he was having the time of his life. The two couldn't afford to cause a scene here.

"I suppose so," Sasori replied calmly, twirling Deidara again.

When they were face to face again, Deidara's eyes were wide, and he was sputtering out words, desperately trying to form a coherent sentence. "But I—you're not—what the hell is that supposed to mean, un?!"

"Pein says you're a smart kid, brat. Think about it."

God, no. Deidara's jaw dropped. He wanted to say something, but his vocal chords refused to work. "I...Jesus, un."

"What?"

Deidara shook his head, refusing to say anything else. There was too much going through his mind for him to try and speak. For what seemed like an eternity, he danced silently with the redhead, trying to avoid eye contact. And then something hit him. "I changed in front of you, un!" the blond exclaimed, absolutely mortified. "Why didn't you say anything, un?" he growled, tightening his grip on Sasori's hand until he heard a satisfying pop. This was just _wonderful._

"I enjoyed the view," Sasori said bluntly, smirking when he saw Deidara's face begin to turn a bright shade of red.

"You _looked_?!"

The redhead blinked a few times. "Obviously."

"Oh my God, un."

"You act like you've never done it."

"I wouldn't _tell_ you, un!" Deidara groaned, only to have Sasori shush him a moment later. "Un?"

"That guy is looking at us," Sasori murmured, using his eyes to motion to his right. Sure enough, there was a man standing near an empty table, staring straight at them.

"That's him, un."

"You sure?"

"Look at his neck, un." There was a large snake tattoo on the man's neck, and from the looks of it, it probably covered his entire body. "Notice how most people are steering clear of him, too, un."

Sasori nodded. "Definitely him."

"We have to leave then, un. Pein needs to know as soon as possible."

The redhead nodded, but continued to dance with his partner. "He's going to follow us."

Deidara thought for a moment, then grimaced. "I know," he began. He paused for a moment, then sighed heavily before continuing. "I can change that, un."

"Don't you dare shoot him."

"I'm not stupid, un!"

Sasori rolled his eyes. "That's debatable." Deidara shot him a flat look. "Okay, okay...I'm at your beck and call." The redhead expected a number of things, such as Deidara "accidentally" spilling something on himself, or faking a stomach pain and forcing Sasori to accompany him back to their hotel room.

Deidara pulling the redhead into a rough kiss was not one of those things. He kissed back to try and hide his surprise, running his tongue over the blond's lips. He could feel his partner shaking, and grabbed him tightly in hopes that it would make him stop. _What the hell is he...Oh._ As soon as it hit Sasori what his partner was trying to do, he smirked. If they pulled it off right, it might just work.

The redhead pulled Deidara close, breaking from the kiss for a moment to brush his lips against his neck. The blond shuddered, tangling his fingers in Sasori's hair. God, that felt good. _What? No! _Deidara quickly banished the thought from his head, and let one hand begin to tug at his partner's tie.

Then, Deidara almost screamed into the kiss. One of Sasori's hands landed itself on the small of his back, while the other one grabbed roughly at his upper thigh. Before the shout could get from his mouth, he managed to turn it into a stifled moan. They broke their kiss once more, and Sasori leaned close to the blond, breath tickling his ear. "Let's go." After one more passionate kiss, Sasori led the bomber out of the ball room, quickly ushering him up to his room. The two said nothing, for fear that another member of Oto had been stationed in the hotel. They spent no time looking, but rather tried to get themselves out of sight.

They reached the hotel room with no conflict, and Deidara pulled the key out of his dress to get them into the room. Before he could open it, however, a pair of hands seized him by the shoulders and spun him around, slamming him against the door. "What the—" He briefly saw Sasori's face before getting trapped in yet another kiss. _Fuck, Sasori, _Deidara grumbled silently. Just in case, he ran his hands up and down the redhead's back. There had to be a reason the redhead was doing this. In turn, Sasori pushed Deidara up so that the bomber was practically straddling him. "Wait until we get inside, un," the blond whispered, gently pushing Sasori away from him. As quickly as he could, Deidara unlocked the door and slammed it shut as soon as his partner had gotten into the hotel room. Within minutes, the blond had called Konan and informed her of the situation, putting the assignment into her hands.

"Wow," Sasori commented, falling onto one of the beds as soon as his partner hung up the phone.

"What the _fuck_ was that, Sasori, un?" Deidara growled, trying to reach the back of his dress to unhook it. The boning inside of it had been digging into his ribs since he put it on, and he was pretty sure they were bruised. Konan was the same exact size as him. How did she deal with this?

"You act like I'm the one who started it."

"Will you shut the fuck up, un? There's no way anyone would follow us if we were just going back to our room to sleep with each other." the blond spat, still viciously trying to undo his dress. "But was that last part really necessary?"

Sasori rolled his eyes. "You can never be too careful, brat."

"God, I think I'm going to throw up, un."

"Says the boy that thought it would be a good idea to stick his tongue in my mouth."

"You frenched me first, un!"

Sasori smirked. "That's debatable." For a while longer, he watched Deidara struggle with the dress. Then, he shook his head and stood up. "Would you like some help?"

"Piss off, un."

"Okay."

After a few moments more of struggling, let a groan slip through his lips. "Fine. Help."

"What? I couldn't hear you."

Was he really going to go there? Deidara glared at the redhead, only to find that he wasn't budging an inch. "Please, un?"

"I'm sorry. My hearing's been a bit off today, brat."

_Damn you to hell..._ "Please, Sasori?"

"Please what?"

Several threats crossed Deidara's head at that moment, mostly having to do with explosives, a few bullets, and castration. "You are a fucking prick, un."

"I wouldn't say that to your only chance of getting out of Konan's dress," Sasori warned, moving to take his previous seat on the bed.

There was no way he was going to do it. He had too much pride to do it. He was better off tying himself a lovely noose to hang himself with. But on the other hand...he had recently witnessed a small fraction of Konan's fury. Something no man should ever have to suffer through. "You're going to make me say it, aren't you, un."

"I don't know, but I'm getting kind of tired. I might go to bed soon, brat."

_Goddammit. _"Sasori, will you please help me get out of this dress, un?" Deidara asked through clenched teeth, now moving across the room to reach for one of his explosives.

Before the blond had a chance to blow the hotel sky high, Sasori got up, and with one quick move, unhooked the dress and pulled the zipper down far enough that Deidara could reach it. "There." Immediately, Deidara grabbed his pajamas and bolted into the bathroom to change. He wasn't going to change out there. No way in hell after that fiasco. When he reemerged, Sasori rose a brow at him. "Done throwing up?"

"Fuck you, un," Deidara hissed, swinging his fist at the redhead. He just barely missed, but it wasn't worth another shot. Instead, he kept his eyes glued on the ground and pulled himself into bed. "Should we call Konan tomorrow, un?" he asked, turning the lights off as he spoke. He wouldn't dare contact her now; she was probably in the middle of a conversation with the man they had seen in the ballroom.

"No. Wait until we get back to headquarters. We're probably under heavy surveillance."

"Okay, un."

"Goodnight, brat."

"I hope you smother yourself with that pillow, un."


	9. Chapter 8

Deidara blinked his eyes open, and immediately snapped them shut, wishing death upon himself. As soon as he woke up, the images of what had happened the night before flooded him, and it seemed like the only reasonable thing to do now was kill himself. For quite some time, he wished death upon himself, until a pillow hit him in the face and he shot up to attack the culprit. Who, upon further inspection, was none other than Sasori. The redhead was sitting on his own bed, already dressed and packed to leave.

"What time is it, un?"

"There's a clock right next to you, brat."

Deidara ignored his partner and sat up in bed, taking a moment to stretch before he let his feet hit the cold wooden floor. He made his way into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. As he waited for the shower to heat up, he brushed his teeth. Neither of the Akatsuki members had made an effort to acknowledge what had happened the night before, and that was perfectly fine with him. They were back to normal, just the prick and the idiot getting ready to head back to headquarters after what was hopefully a successful assignment. Once he stepped into the shower and the scalding water hit the his back, the blond let his mind wander. How had Pein and Konan done? He desperately wanted to call the female Akatsuki member, but decided against it.

Once he was finished, Deidara shut the shower off, dried himself, and stepped past the curtain so he could face the clouded mirror. He used the towel to wipe away a spot large enough to show his reflection. He ran his fingers through his hair until it hung untangled over his shoulders. There was no point in tying it up now; that would slow the drying process. Giving his reflection one last look, Deidara threw on a pair of tight black jeans and a pale blue t-shirt before exiting the bathroom.

Within the hour, he was packed, and the two artists were heading out of the hotel. Headquarters was only a few miles away, but it would have been dangerous for the two to walk back right after the party; they had to stay the night to blend themselves in.

"Konan painted your nails?" Sasori inquired not long after they had started their trek back, staring at the bomber's nails.

Rather than answering, the blond stuffed both hands into his pockets. Deidara didn't think it was possible, but he was actually more annoyed with his partner than before. It most certainly was _not_ because of their compromising situation from before...or at least that's what he was trying to tell himself. A few other times, Sasori tried to make idle talk, but he wanted nothing to do with it. Right now, their roles seemed to be reversed. The blond couldn't help but wonder if—save for the embarrassment—this was what Sasori felt like whenever Deidara tried to talk to him.

Once Deidara had given Sasori a look that said he was clearly not in the mood for conversation, the trek home—if Deidara could call it that—was a silent and uncomfortable one.

Once Deidara dropped off his overnight bag, he made a beeline for Konan's room, intent on returning that horrendous red dress. The sooner he got rid of the accursed thing, the better. He knocked on the door to her room, dress slung over his shoulder.

First, the door opened only a crack, but once she saw that it was Deidara, Konan threw the door open and let him in. "How was the party, Deidara?" she asked, a smile spread across her face. Obviously, her part of the assignment went well.

The blond shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it, un," he grumbled, handing the red dress to her.

She took it, cocking her head ever so slightly to the side. "What's the matter? It went great!" she exclaimed, taking the dress from his hands. "Did you have a close call or something?" Konan asked, hanging up the dress as she spoke. When the closet shut, obscuring the damned thing from view, Deidara honestly felt a wave of relief sweep over him.

"Not exactly, un."

She furrowed her brow. "Really? What happened, then?"

"We...may or may not have made out, un. In public."

As soon as the words processed, Konan broke into a loud, shrieking laughter. She tried to cover her mouth to stop herself, but it was no use. It wasn't long before tears began to stream down her face, and she had to take a minute to calm down before she could speak again. "That's _brilliant_!" she exclaimed, still trying to stifle a fit of giggles. "No wonder they didn't follow you!"

Deidara sighed heavily, and could feel his cheeks begin to burn. Great, he was blushing. "Don't remind me, un..." he grumbled. "I could have vomited."

"Oi, you took one for the team," she said, as reassuringly as she could. Which, given the circumstances, was not all that helpful. "God, that's wonderful."

"How was your part of the assignment, un?" Deidara asked, trying to change the subject as quickly as possible.

Konan paused for a moment, then smirked. "Better than yours."

"That's not saying much."

She laughed and sat across from him. "He didn't even see us coming. We broke into one of the maintenance rooms, tied him up, and beat the shit out of him until we got what we wanted." Deidara rose a brow. The man didn't look like he'd be that easy of a target.

"Did you have any trouble with him, un?" Deidara asked, now curious. Konan didn't look that strong. And Pein...well, the man always wore thick clothes, so he couldn't make an accurate assessment.

"Oh, no. I think he must have called me something nasty, because Pein was at his throat in a second. The poor thing didn't even have a chance to struggle," Konan explained, but despite what she said, her voice held no sort of sympathy for the man. "We got what we needed, though. After that, I believe Pein disposed of him."

"Permanently, un?" Deidara asked. Man, the Akatsuki leader had to have been _pissed_.

She nodded. "Of course. We couldn't have him scurrying back to Oto about us, could we?" The blond knew that wasn't the case at all; Sasori had very clearly conveyed to him that they always left their victims alive. That way, they could make Oto squirm. "Now, I have to ask...who's brilliant idea was it to suck face in the middle of that party?" Konan asked, already trying to suppress a fit of giggles.

"Mine, un," Deidara admitted, face burning again. God, would there ever be an end to this humiliation?

"How was it?"

"Disgusting, un."

"Really? I would have thought he'd be halfway decent..." Konan murmured to herself, only causing the blond to hide his head in his hands. "Deidara, you're blushing."

"No shit, un," he growled. "That was the single worst moment of my life!"

"Over dramatic, much?"

"It was horrendous, un."

Konan rolled her eyes. "Child, I've done so much worse than that," she said with a smirk. "After a while, you learn to swallow your pride. Soon, you won't even feel the loss of dignity."

The words would have been comforting, had they not implied that Deidara would more than likely be in a similar situation in the future. It was not by any means his cup of tea. Just the thought of it made him want to throw up.

"If it makes you feel better, you won't be going out for an assignment any time soon. We're going to keep out of sigh for a while. If we play everything right, Oto might let down its guard and present an opportunity for direct assault," Konan said, obviously thrilled with the idea.

Deidara nodded, but then paused and thought about it for a moment. "Konan...what's the point?"

"Of what, Deidara?" She asked, not exactly following.

"Of attacking Oto, un."

She looked at him, but was by no means fazed by the question. "They are the most _horrendous_ bunch of human beings I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Orochimaru is absolute _scum_. The moment Pein let him into this organization, I knew he would turn everything into a massive shit storm. And then, what do you know, he goes rogue on us and starts his own gang."

"So, un?"

Konan continued, seeming not to have heard the blond. "I don't _care_ that he went rogue. And I most certainly don't care that he started his own organization. What I _do_ care about is that he is purposely putting the lives of those in Akatsuki in danger, and has no other motive than to obtain a reign of terror over whatever piece of land he can reach!"

"Wait...he used to be part of Akatsuki, un?" Deidara asked, eyes widening. Sasori had never told him that. No wonder he was talking about how Oto knew exactly what he looked like.

She paused for a minute to give him a perplexed look. "Sasori never told you?"

"I guess it wasn't important, un."

"I beg to differ. The bastard used to work with Sasori. They were absolutely unstoppable. We could have had several small countries in the palms of our hands if we really wanted to. But he was never much of a follower...so he left."

"But doesn't Akatsuki do the same thing, un?"

Konan's eyes narrowed, and she scowled viciously at him. "Hardly. Akatsuki, though we do wreak havoc more often than not, has a specific goal. Not so much to conquer, but to show that we can. We want to have influence, rather than be directly involved. Obviously, many of us are fueled by the desire for money, drugs, and things of the like. But, more importantly, we're important to each other."

As much as Deidara would have liked to believe that, his partnership with Sasori rendered it unlikely. "I...suppose, un."

She must have known what he was thinking, because she smiled reassuringly at him. "You haven't been here long enough to understand. In a twisted sort of way, it's almost like a family. If someone so much as looked at any of you the wrong way, I'd make sure they'd regret it. That's something that Oto hasn't managed to get, and that's where we're hoping we can get an advantage."

"Oh, un," he said, for lack of better words. "It's like the mafia, then, un."

"I suppose, if you'd like to make some sort of comparison."

The two of them lapsed into another bit of silence, until Deidara made his way to the door of Konan's room. "Did Pein get anything from those files, un?" he asked, pulling the door open.

The female Akatsuki member shrugged. "I don't know. It seems like background information on some of their members. The only thing is, we've never heard of any of them, and we don't know if the information is accurate. The man we kidnapped yesterday assured us that it was, but Orochimaru could have very well lied to him."

"That's unfortunate, un."

"Yes. Zetsu's been working on it more than Pein, though, to make sure we don't fall behind. But if anything comes up, I'll let you know. You're the one that got us the files, after all."

Deidara nodded. "I'll talk to you later, un." Konan gave him a small wave, and he smiled at her before heading down the hall. Orochimaru had been part of the Akatsuki...that explained a lot. Konan may have said that their rivalry with Oto had nothing to do with the former member going rogue, but the blond had to doubt that.

He thought about asking Sasori, but wasn't sure whether or not to actually carry out the idea. Under normal circumstances, the blond would have automatically assumed that asking would end horrendously. However, his partner seemed to be in an unusually chatty mood, and might not mind sharing the information.

What the hell, things couldn't get any worse if he asked, right?


	10. Chapter 9

"Sasori, un?" Deidara called out, peeking his head into their room. Sure enough, the redhead was in his usual spot, working on yet another puppet. The blond briefly wondered where all the puppets went when Sasori was finished with them, but banished the thought. There were more important things to ask about.

"What, brat?" the redhead asked, stopping his carving for a moment to look at his partner. Although it was a small action, Deidara was nothing short of surprised; the man _never_ looked up from his work. Especially especially when it had to do with the blond.

He let himself into the room and closet the door before throwing himself down onto his bed. "You never told me you used to work with Orochimaru, un."

In a split second, the entire mood of the conversation changed. Sasori slammed his carving tool, spun around in his chair, and seemed as if he were trying to strangle the blond by giving him the nastiest look he could muster up. "Unfortunately," he ground out. Deidara looked down at his partner's hands, only to see that they were clenched into fists. The redhead was so tense that his knuckles were turning white.

"What was he like, un?" Deidara asked, pretending not to notice the redhead's obvious animosity towards the man. Such raw anger was shocking; this made the outbursts towards the bomber seem like nothing.

Sasori scowled and looked as if he were about to pull out his gun and kill his partner in cold blood. "What the fuck does it matter?"

"When Oto specifically sent a letter to me, it does matter, un," Deidara protested, narrowing his eyes at him. Even if Sasori tried something, the blond knew he had a quicker hand.

"Why don't you piss off and ask someone else?"

"Because _you_ fucking worked with him, un."

"Leave me alone."

"No, un."

Sasori was on his feet in a second, further trying to threaten the blond. "Just because I'm willing to fuck around with you to get the job done doesn't mean I'll feel bad about slitting your ugly throat," the redhead growled, taking another step towards his partner.

At this, Deidara rolled his eyes. He should have seen this coming. "Says the man who's face looks like his neck threw up, un," Deidara retorted. He narrowly dodged a punch to the face, and sighed. "Physical appearance aside, don't you think this is important?"

"No."

"Why, un?"

"Because, brat, the specifics of our time as partners isn't at all related to the situation we are in now."

Deidara rose a brow at this. "Since when is it not important to know your enemy, un?" he asked incredulously. As the saying says, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

The redhead scowled and moved towards the door. "I'm not going to deal with you right now, brat. Learn to mind your own goddamn business." Before the bomber could protest, Sasori escaped from their room and into the hallway, positive that his partner wouldn't try to follow. The dumbass was still probably wondering what he had done wrong.

Sasori pushed open the bedroom door to find a very surprised Konan sitting on the floor and staring at him with wide eyes. She had expected Deidara, not the redhead. As well as he could, he masked his frustration and took a seat next to her.

"How are you?" she asked, smiling warmly at him once the initial shock subsided. "It's been a while since you've stopped by."

The puppeteer shrugged. "I try to interact with Deidara as little as possible." Konan nodded, already knowing this very well. Unlike with his partner, Sasori was very civil with Konan, to the point where he could consider her a friend.

"Nothing out of the usual. Though I'm surprised, he's much better than Orochimaru," Konan said with a shrug. "He's just very..."

"Stupid?"

"I was going to say that he doesn't think much. But I suppose that works, too," Konan replied, rolling her eyes at him. "He told me quite a bit about your assignment."

A smile made its way to Sasori's face. "Oh, yes," he began. "He was just flustered. Forgot that he had started the whole thing, actually."

"Ah, to be young and innocent," Konan murmured to herself, a smile making its way across her face. "I remember the days when a simple kiss would make me react like that."

Sasori made no further comment on their ballroom fiasco. Rather, he turned to the blue haired woman and tried to observe her face before speaking, as if he could get the answer without using words. Finally, when she noticed him staring, he sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "You told Deidara about Orochimaru." He didn't need to ask the question; he already knew the answer well enough. After all, who else did the blond talk to in his spare time.

"Oh, he asked already?" Konan inquired, eyes widening slightly. That was much quicker than she had expected. After all, the blond had only been in her room less than an hour ago.

"Unfortunately," Sasori replied, sighing heavily. "I'm exhausted, and I only dealt with him for a few minutes."

Konan shrugged. "He's just curious." The redhead just stared at her. "It's important, Sasori."

He shook his head. "I beg to differ."

"What, you don't want to tell the kid about your previous sexual encounters?"

"...Please tell me you're joking."

"Hm?"

He glared halfheartedly at her. "I'd _never_ touch that man. Unlike many of the people I've encountered, I have standards." After clearing his throat, he spoke again. "Perhaps it will be more useful when we have to deal with Oto in the future. For right now, I'd prefer not to think about it."

"Sasori, even for you, that's a huge risk to—"

The redhead held a hand up, preventing Konan from finishing his sentence. "I'm sure he'll forget by the time we get our next assignment." As much as she would have liked to, the blue haired woman couldn't deny this. She enjoyed the blond's company, but he was as dull as they came.

Even though she couldn't protest what he had said, Konan couldn't help but sigh and shake her head. "You should still consider talking to him." Even after years of working with him, he was still stubborn beyond belief.

"Yeah, yeah," Sasori grumbled, and with that, he left the room. He walked through the kitchen and living room, but upon seeing that everyone was either out or minding their own business, he grudgingly made his way back to his room. No doubt, the blond would be sitting there, waiting to ask him a million more questions.

Sasori unwillingly pushed the door open, finding Deidara sitting quietly at his desk. It wasn't until the redhead sat down that his partner even acknowledged him. "I'm sorry, un."

The redhead blinked several times. "What?" he asked, unable to completely process what he heard.

"I should have minded my own business, un," he said, voice monotone and overall uninterested. "You don't have to tell me about your previous relationships. I should have kept to myself."

"Orochimaru and I were _not _ in a relationship!" Sasori hissed, so venomously that his partner flinched. Once the words came out of his mouth, he immediately saw the blond begin to turn a deep shade of red.

"I thought that since you didn't want to talk about it, you were—"

"Orochimaru was the most disgusting human being I have ever had to deal with. He was experimenting in here _constantly_. It didn't matter if the subjects were alive or dead; in fact, the more they squirmed, the better. Deidara, I am a sadist. I will openly admit that. I _enjoy_ when other human beings suffer. In fact, I will go out of my way to make sure that they _do _suffer." He stopped to take a breath, and made eye contact with a very shocked Deidara. "Even I have my limits. I can't hate anyone more than I hate that man, and I would give literally anything to watch him suffer and die. The outcome of our assignments will not be any different if I tell you what he did. It's pointless to try and relive everything. It's actually—"

"But then I'll know what I'm up against, un," Deidara said weakly, not sure if he wanted to hear more. There was a mixture of pure loathing on the redhead's face, but it was also mixed with fear. That's what bothered the bomber the most.

"Jeffery Dahmer," Sasori said, almost as if he were exhausted, "Was nothing compared to him. I cannot think of a worse human being. Not only is he horrendous, but he's powerful. He has influences and many more connections than the Akatsuki could ever dream of. There have been times where he's had the law at his beck and call. There is nothing that Orochimaru won't do to get what he wants."

The blond nodded slowly, taking in everything that his partner had said. "Ah." It was all very similar to what Konan had said. The only difference was that the redhead's anger was so much more intense. "What sort of experiments did he do, un?" Deidara asked softly, although he knew he shouldn't have said anything.

To his surprise, the redhead sighed heavily squeezed his eyes shut, rather than lashing out at his partner again. "Sakon and Ukon."

"Who?"

"They were part of the experiments. Twins. He wanted them attached."

"And?"

"Let your imagination run wild. Think of the worst you can, and then go a little further."

"Jesus, un."

Sasori shrugged, trying to push the thought of the twins out of his head. It took so many years to forget...to get the horrific images out of his head. He had done so well, and now they were all back, as strong as ever. He sighed heavily and looked the blond straight in the eyes. "Never ask me about this again."

For once, Deidara knew not to argue. He simply nodded and turned his back to his partner, not bothering to utter another word.


	11. Chapter 10

Evidently, whatever information Pein and Konan had gathered had been what they were looking for. People were rushing around left and right, doing things here and there to try and get smooth translations of several files and voice recordings. As far as assignments went, however, things had come to a screeching halt. Deidara was bored out of his mind, and knew that Sasori wasn't going to do much to entertain him. It had been at least three weeks of absolutely nothing, and the blond was beginning to get a severe case of cabin fever.

Sasori, though he didn't show it, wasn't doing much better. He had made dozens of miniature puppets, and actually found himself bored with his favorite pass time. The only other thing he could do was to stare at his partner. The kid was annoying as hell, but he was good eye candy. If he weren't so annoying, Sasori would have seriously considered trying to have more intimate relations with him. He settled on halfheartedly working on a puppet, while every once and a while stealing a glance at his partner.

"Sasori, I'm bored as fuck, un."

"What do you want me to do about it, brat?" the redhead snapped. This had to be the thousandth time the kid had tried to start a conversation with him, and he really had no desire to talk to the little whelp. He'd stare at him, sure, but conversing was a whole different story.

"Geez, you're in a rotten mood, un. What crawled up your ass and died?"

Sasori closed his eyes for a moment, as if it would help him calm down. "Why are you so god damn annoying?"

"Why are you such a prick, un?"

"I am seriously one step away from snapping your neck."

"I'd like to see you try, asshole."

"Shut up, you fag."

Deidara scowled. "Oh, like you're one to talk."

"I'm not in the mood to deal with you, brat. I'll do the both of us a favor and get the hell out of here."

Shutting the door behind him, Sasori made his way down the hallway. He wasn't hungry enough for a meal, so he settled on wandering around until he figured out what he was going to do. Itachi wasn't busy, and he usually didn't mind an unannounced visit. It was almost ten, so it was more than likely that the Uchiha was already up.

Without knocking, Sasori entered Itachi's room just in time to find the Uchiha slipping a black tank top on over his fishnet t-shirt. "Is this a bad time?" he asked, somewhat sarcastically, and sat down in the middle of his friend's floor.

"If you mind me changing into a different pair of pants, then yes," Itachi said nonchalantly, motioning to his pajama pants. "How's Kisame?"

"Taking out a few drug leaders."

"Ah, nothing out of the norm?" Sasori said, somewhat disappointed. For the most part, Itachi and Kisame dealt with drug lords that threatened the Akatsuki. Occasionally they would dabble in business with Oto, but more often than not, they stuck to the illegal trafficking.

"I'll just turn around." Sasori turned his head, looking back when he heard Itachi finish buttoning up his clothing. "Do you have any weed on you?" he asked.

The Uchiha nodded, and began to dig through his desk drawer. Usually, their assignments resulted in some sort of free drugs, so Itachi almost always had something to pass onto the redhead. "I just got a ton last week." He pulled them out, and smirked at Sasori before throwing him one. "Stressed?" the Uchiha inquired, eyeing his friend to determine how tense he was.

He shrugged casually and pulled a lighter out of his pocket. "Can you blame me?"

"As obnoxious as he is, you can't deny that he's an improvement."

"Hardly."

"You're almost as bad as Kakuzu."

"I don't know, I might have him dead by the end of the day," Sasori replied, lighting one of the joints. He inhaled slowly, and blew out a large puff of smoke. A few inhales later, he was fully feeling the effects of the drug he had taken. "Are you having any?" he asked, blinking a few times until he got used to the high.

"Unlikely. I'm busy later."

"Ah."

"How has Deidara held up?"

The redhead thought for a moment and shrugged. "I can't say. One minute he's annoying as fuck, and the next he's not half as bad."

"The next moment being when you catch him half naked, I presume."

Sasori had to stifle a laugh. "I wish I could say otherwise. But you know me far too well."

"You aren't exactly subtle," Itachi commented, staring at his friend with a bored expression. "But he's too stupid to notice, right?"

The redhead nodded. "Most of the time."

The Uchiha paced back and forth in the room, quickly losing interest in his drugs. If he got himself too high, he wouldn't be able to get any amusement out of Sasori's drugged up state. During the brief silence between then, the redhead had already began chuckling to himself, most likely drifting into some sort of hallucination. He only came in for a smoke every once in a while, and he never got used to the high.

"C'mere," Sasori said cheerfully, holding out his arms towards the Uchiha.

"Hell no."

"Please?"

"I'd rather hang myself."

"Why not?"

"Go touch your blond instead."

"I can't say I'd mind," Sasori purred. At this, Itachi shook his head and sighed. "If only he talked less," the redhead murmured out loud, talking more to himself than his friend.

"You're insane," Itachi said flatly, raising a brow at the man in the middle of the floor. He had begun to talk to himself, leaving the Uchiha to look at him, not exactly sure of what to do next. Sending him to wander the halls was probably a bad idea, despite how much he wished to do it. Now, it seemed reasonable, but there would be trouble when Sasori came down from his high. Which would most likely be within the hour.

Thankfully, within the minute, Sasori was on his feet, heading towards the door. "Maybe I'll go see what Deidara's doing," he suggested to himself, seeming to forget that he had just come from there.

"Okay," the Uchiha replied, making sure he didn't sound too thankful that the redhead was leaving. They were close, but the man was only good company while he was high for a limited amount of time.

Sasori made his way down the hall, and the next thing he knew, he was on the living room sofa, staring at the wall. He wasn't sure what he was thinking about, but it was deep enough to consume him for a good amount of time.

It wasn't until Pein tapped him on the shoulder that he was dragged back into reality. He was beginning to feel the effects of the joint wearing off, so he had to have been sitting there for at least an hour. "Sasori?"

"Hm?" the redhead grunted, glancing up to look at the Akatsuki leader.

"Sasori are you—You know what? I don't want to know," Pein said quickly, waving his hand in front of his face. "We need to talk."

"Oh?" the redhead inquired, raising a brow as he followed the Akatsuki leader into his office. He took a seat across from Pein's desk, and almost immediately began tapping his feet against the ground. "What's up?" He was almost completely down from his high, and could, for the most part, function as normal. At random intervals, he'd get an immense urge to burst out laughing, but he was able to control himself.

Pein spread several folders out in front of Sasori. "You'll want to take these and review them carefully before you go on your next assignment."

"I take it you're trying to keep us from slipping into a coma like state?"

"If that's what you'd like to think, then sure."

The redhead opened a few of the files and glanced at them briefly, barely interested in what he saw. "Oto again?"

"You know them best, Sasori."

"True. I just assumed you had been focusing elsewhere for the past few weeks."

Pein sighed. "I wish. I'm sure Deidara will be glad to get out of the base, though."

"As will I. Is this another scouting assignment?" When the Akatsuki leader didn't reply for a while, Sasori felt a bit of concern begin to grow in the pit of his stomach. "Pein, what are we doing?" he asked calmly, eyeing the man for any sort of hint.

Pein smirked, but the look quickly fell from his face. "We're going offensive," he said vaguely, waving one hand in the air. "If we don't strike now, it's just going to get worse."

"Worse? Has anything happened recently?"

"Hidan was close to getting decapitated last week, and Kakuzu looks like he got mauled by a bear."

"Shit..." Sasori trailed off. "So, this is a multi-group assignment, then?" Pein just stared at the redhead, which was hardly comforting. "You're not saying—"

"We can't send more than two," Pein began, clearly uncomfortable with the predicament. "It would be better just to send the two of you."

"...Are you insane?" Sasori spat, hardly concerned that he was insulting his boss. The man had actually lost his mind. Even in the redhead's drugged up state, he knew this was a terrible idea.

Pein shrugged, and spun in his chair so that his back was facing Sasori. "I don't know what else to do. You two seem to be the most capable, though I'm sure you don't think so."

"I don't _think_ we're incapable, I _know_ we're incapable. Pein, this is ridiculous, we'll—"

"Hidan and Kakuzu can't go. Both of them are still recovering from their last assignment. Itachi and Kisame will fight, but Itachi takes too long in battle. I wouldn't dare send Konan, and Tobi and Zetsu have never been on the battlefield. And I can assure you there's a reason for that," Pein said in an exasperated tone, turning back to face Sasori with a haggard expression. "We're stuck, Sasori. We can't do anything else."

Wordlessly, Sasori let his head sink into his hands. Great. Just fucking great.


	12. Chapter 11

"Pein, this is a suicide mission!" Sasori exclaimed, slamming his hands down on the Akatsuki leader's desk. "What the _hell_ are you thinking!? Our entire organization wouldn't be able to take them!"

Pein waited until he was sure the redhead had finished before speaking. "I'm not asking you to crush them. Nor am I asking for you to go face to face with anyone. Just shake them up. I'm positive you are more than capable of that," he explained. "And you act like you're going into this on your own. You underestimate Deidara; these types of missions are his specialty."

Sasori rolled his eyes. That was a load of bullshit. "That doesn't mean anything, Pein."

"You'll be fine, Sasori."

"But he's—"

Pein held up a hand, and Sasori shut himself up in mid sentence. "Your partner is legally insane.. In most situations, he is able to function like a normal human being. But if he hist a certain limit...well, he's like a machine."

The redhead couldn't tell where Pein was going with this. "I can't say I've witnessed anything even remotely close to that." Sure, the kid had a few loose screws, but he didn't seem like he was batshit crazy.

"And for that, you should be thankful."

"Oh?"

Pein couldn't help but smirk. "Do you remember the massacre that happened about a year ago? The one in the inner city that dropped out of the newspapers after a few days?"

Sasori furrowed his brow. "The one near the city's drug center?" For a few years, there had been a huge drug trafficking system, so unstoppable that the police refrained from getting involved. The massacre had taken everyone by surprise, and within a few weeks, the whole business had collapsed.

"Yes."

"What of it?"

"That...was Deidara." At this, Sasori's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. "One of the drug dealers pushed him a bit to far, someone threw a punch at him, and he snapped."

"By...by himself?" Pein nodded. "Thirty people were killed! It was on the same level as a terrorist attack!" And that was exactly how it had been dismissed: a suicide attack by one of the drug leaders.

Pein leaned back in his chair and watched the redhead. He was visibly uncomfortable, and obviously itching to leave. "He blew the place to smithereens and shot anyone who survived the blast. Then, he framed one of the men he had killed. In fact, the police didn't even suspect him. His name was big then, but they had no idea he was involved in the drug trafficking system. He's let himself fade out since then, to avoid suspicion."

Sasori opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He simply could not wrap his head around the idea that _Deidara_ of all people, was actually that dangerous.

"You'll be fine."

"But how do you know he'll snap?"

"After traveling a few hours with you, I'm sure he'll be on the edge," Pein stated. "And if that doesn't work, I'm sure you can subtly push his buttons until he's on the edge, and let Oto do the rest."

Sasori nodded, knowing very well that he was good at making the blond fly off his handle. It was by no means a one way street, but it was likely that Deidara, most of the time, didn't do it on purpose. The brat was always annoying, no matter what he was doing. "Whatever you say, Pein."

"Sasori..." Pein said just as the redhead was about to leave.

Sasori turned on his heel and faced the Akatsuki leader. "Yes?"

"I wouldn't have you two do this unless I knew you were capable. Remember that."

"Mhm."

"Now get out of here, you pothead. You've got to get yourself ready. I want you two on the road as soon as possible."

"Okay, Pein." Still, as Sasori shut the door, he could feel a sickening anxiety begin to creep up into his chest. He hadn't been this nervous in a while. He would have scolded himself for such feelings, but they were completely rational. Though they were only going after one of Oto's smaller locations, it was one of the most heavily fortified. Mostly because it was the base closest to the Akatsuki headquarters.

He made his way back into his room, and saw Deidara sitting on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Oh. You're back, un," the blond mumbled, unable to keep the disappointment from his voice. Still, he sat up to look at his partner, only to have his eyes widened when he saw worry visibly written all over Sasori's face. "Who died?"

"No one yet," the redhead said, unwillingly making his way over to his desk. He pulled the drawers open, and began to pull out unlabeled vials, and guns that he hadn't needed for years.

"Where are you going, un?" Deidara asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. He had absolutely no idea what was going on, but his partner's actions were enough to concern him. "What's going on, un?"

"We're leaving for an assignment."

"Un?"

"Pein wants us to leave as soon as possible. Bring your best weapons. Don't bring a change of clothes. We should be back by the end of the day."

"Should?"

"If we get back."

Deidara blinked once, then twice. He said nothing, but simply got up and began to gather his supplies. Clay, mostly, along with a few guns. He always carried his explosives with him, so they were already packed and ready to go. "Where are we going, un?"

"Oto."

The blond nodded, not surprised in the least. It seemed that the two of them were pursuing this gang more than the others. He had no idea as to why, but he was in no position to complain. There was no reason to ask about the details of the mission; Sasori would tell him on the way there. Deidara waited until his partner had packed all of his supplies into his pockets and a small travel bag before speaking again. "Sasori, un?"

"What, brat?"

Wordlessly, the blond made his way over to Sasori, and waited until said man looked at him before he did anything else. With full knowledge that he could have gotten his throat slit right then and there, Deidara leaned forward and pulled the redhead into a tight hug. Despite his partner's squirming, he held them firmly in place until Sasori gave in and let his hand lifelessly drape itself around the bomber's waist.

"You're a prick, but I know you can do this, un," Deidara whispered, letting his chin rest on his partner's shoulder.

Sasori said nothing, but simply accepted the display of affection. The blond holding him like this was enough to both sicken and comfort him. Not exactly aware of what he was doing, the redhead pulled back slightly and gave Deidara a quick peck on the cheek. "We have to go," he mumbled, and moved back to make sure he had grabbed everything. The next time he looked back, he saw the bomber with one hand up to his cheek, face beginning to turn red. "What're you blushing for, brat?"

"Nothing, you asshole."

"Ouch. That was harsh," Sasori said, rolling his eyes. Though the kid was an absolute moron, he was somehow capable of lifting the redhead's spirits. "Are you ready?"

"I guess so, un."

Within twenty minutes, they were trudging through the city. Deidara had no idea where he was going, and was relying on Sasori to lead them to their destination. He hadn't bothered to ask the redhead if he knew where he was going, partially because he didn't want to know if they were getting themselves hopelessly lost. They weaved between buildings, trying to keep out of sight as much as possible. If there was a longer but less crowded way to reach their destination, they would take it.

The blond occupied his thoughts with the feeling of Sasori's lips against his cheek. Where the hell had that come from? He wasn't complaining, it was just...unexpected. It felt nice, but it was completely unlike Sasori. Then again, he did still smell like marijuana...

Deidara sighed softly, and ran a hand through his hair. "Sasori, are you high, un?"

"No. I was earlier, though."

"So you'll smoke a joint, but you won't smoke a cigarette?"

"One kills you. The other one just gives you one hell of a high."

The blond shrugged. "Not really. The feeling starts to dull down after the first few smokes, un," he said casually.

"I only have some every once in a while. I don't think I could handle being stoned all of the time," Sasori replied. "And I have no intention of trying anything harder. Knowing my luck, I'd probably overdose on my first shot."

"You're not much of a risk taker, un."

The redhead rose a brow. "I just don't do things that I know are stupid."

"I beg to differ, un."

"Oh?"

"You kissed me earlier, un," the blond said, avoiding eye contact with his partner as he spoke. As he said the words, the whole thing almost seemed that much more real to him. His chest clenched, and he wasn't exactly sure as to what he was feeling. He wasn't sick, but something felt off. Whether it was good or bad, he couldn't determine.

"That wasn't stupid," Sasori argued, smirking slightly.

"What was it, then?"

"Something for good luck."

"Oi, I don't want you spreading your bad luck to me, un."

Sasori rolled his eyes. "How the fuck would I do that?"

"Saliva, skin contact...you never know, un," Deidara shot back, taking a step away from the redhead. The next thing he knew, both of his hands were trapped together, and Sasori had pulled him close enough that their foreheads were touching each other. "Let go, un."

"Okay." Sasori complied, but not before giving Deidara a firm kiss, running his tongue over the blond's lips.

As soon as he had broken away, Deidara began sputtering, wiping his mouth furiously. "What are you trying to do, kill me, un?"

"Don't act so overdramatic."

"Don't kiss me, un!"

"Think of it as a European greeting."

"Not on my mouth it isn't, un," Deidara growled, wiping his mouth again. "What the hell is your problem?"

Sasori shrugged. "Living life to the fullest before I get my brains blasted out, I guess."

"Why don't you live your life to the fullest with someone else, un?" Deidara grumbled. "I'm not into romance."

"Neither am I."

"But—"

"If I can sleep with someone and have no desire for some sort of commitment, I'm sure I can do the same with a kiss, brat."

"I hate you, un."

"The feeling is more than mutual, you wretch."


	13. Chapter 12

"Why does Oto have to put their base so far away from everything, un?" Deidara whined, following behind Sasori as they made their way through the city. They had been traveling for almost an hour, and it seemed like they were getting nowhere.

"It's only a few miles, brat."

"Don't call me that, un!"

"Then stop acting like one."

"This assignment is ridiculous, un. I didn't sign up for any gang rivalry nonsense, un," Deidara groaned, speeding up so that he was walking next to Sasori.

"Maybe you should have thought about that _before_ you joined the Akatsuki, brat."

"Sasori..."

"Oh. Right."

"What's the plan once we get in there, un?"

Sasori shrugged. "Get as much info and wreak as much havoc as we can before we either blow the place to smithereens, or are in life threatening danger. Once either of those two things are achieved, we'll make a run for it. Hopefully, it will be the former and not the latter."

Deidara nodded, signaling that he understood. "Is death permissible this time, un?"

The redhead didn't even need to think about that. "Yes. Anything that will get them to retreat. They've been poking at the Akatsuki for long enough, and this is us returning the favor."

"Un."

As they walked, Deidara began fiddling with an unmolded hunk of clay. As silently as he could, he beat the air bubbles out of it so it could be formed into a wonderful piece of art. The clay had already been infused with explosives, making it ready to use as soon as he was done. Certainly he could just throw the clay if need be, but it was so much less artistic. Thought and preparation needed to be put in to make it a good bomb.

The blond was so engrossed in his sculpture that when he looked up again, he was surprised to find himself already on the outskirts of the city. "Sasori, when does the public transportation end?"

"Far before we get to their headquarters."

"...Oh, un."

"It's like that for a reason."

"That way, you bleed out before you reach civilization, right, un?" Deidara said with a smirk.

Sasori nodded. "Essentially, yes."

"Sasori?"

"Can you shut up for more than two seconds, brat?" Sasori snapped.

"...Is Orochimaru going to be there, un?"

"I really hope not. If he is, we're done for."

"Un." By now, Deidara had constructed a small clay butterfly. It's wings were delicate, as demonstrated by the bomber's care in slipping the sculpture into his pocket. There was no way the average Joe would be able to tell how deadly the item really was. He reached for another handful of clay, but Sasori quickly swatted his hand down.

"Don't," the redhead hissed, and then looked straight forward as if nothing had happened. Deidara did the same, and saw why his partner had suddenly freaked. A man was standing by himself near the entrance of a rather thick forest. It wasn't until the two approached him that he looked up. They tried to pass him casually, but he stepped in their way.

"I'm afraid you two can't go this way," the man stated, one hand drifting down to the gun sticking out of his pocket.

"Why not, un?" Deidara inquired, furrowing his brow. Oh man, this wasn't going to be good. He casually put his hands on his hips, fingers mere inches away from the butterfly he had just finished.

"This is Oto territory. Trespassers are not allowed."

"I'm pretty sure this is a public forest," Sasori argued.

"Incorrect. You two cannot pass."

"But it's important, un!" Deidara exclaimed. "We can't be late for our meeting, un."

"What sort of meeting?"

Deidara looked at his partner to see if he was going to come up with something. Although the Oto guard couldn't tell, the blond saw that Sasori was completely out of ideas. Neither of them had thought that there was going to be reinforcements a mile from their headquarters.

"It's private business, un," Deidara began, smiling sweetly at the guard, who was hardly amused. "Won't you just let us on by?"

This was a side of the blond that Sasori had certainly never seen before. It was actually shocking to see him refrain from saying the crude things he was most likely thinking.

"No can do, sir. All reasons for entrance must be stated before you may advance," the guard said, sizing up the blond as he spoke.

Deidara sighed heavily and blinked a few times. Sasori said nothing, not wanting to ruin his partner's plan. A bad one was better than nothing at this point. "Please? Orochimaru didn't want us to breathe a word of it, un," he explained, lying through his teeth. The guard rose a brow, but made no move to let them by.

"I guess..." he began. "I might have missed you while questioning another traveler. With proper enticement."

The blond looked at Sasori, who reached in his pockets only to pull his hands back out, empty. "We're broke."

"Great. Some help you are," Deidara huffed. He thought for a moment, then turned to the guard. "I have a better idea. Why don't you come with me, un?" He leaned close and whispered something that Sasori couldn't catch. But from the look on the guard's face, it had worked. "Sasori, why don't you go on ahead? I'll meet up with you in a few minutes, un."

Sasori opened his mouth to protest, but closed it quickly. He wasn't going to give up this opportunity. Leaving his partner behind, he advanced, thinking as little as he could of what Deidara was up to. He passed a few more checkpoints, but after the first guard, they let him through with no problem; they all must have assumed that if he got past the first one, he wasn't a threat. A foolish mistake, but it was one the redhead certainly didn't mind. For the most fortified base that this gang had, he was getting by without any problems at all.

A half mile into his trek, he heard footsteps pounding on the ground behind him. He spun around, intent on attacking if need be, but relaxed himself when he saw a rather disheveled Deidara jogging towards him. He was grinning like a fool, but looked like a mess. His hair was messed up, and his cheeks were flushed. It definitely wasn't from the running; even after a few miles, Deidara would hardly break a sweat.

"What happened to you?" Sasori inquired, genuinely curious as to what had happened. There were two possible answers to what had happened: either Deidara had gotten into a fight with the man, or...

The redhead banished the thought before it came. There was no way in _hell._

"Nothing much, un," Deidara replied, flattening his hair.

"You retied your ponytail."

"It came out, un." Well, no shit.

"What happened?" Sasori asked again, this time slightly more irritated. He was trying to keep himself calm. No matter how aggravated he was with the blond, he knew that snapping at him wouldn't help.

"Brat, are you limping?"

Deidara's eyes widened ever so slightly, and he laughed nervously. "Oh...yeah. I tripped on a root. I was trying to catch up with you, so I didn't really watch where I was going."

"You're a horrendous liar," the redhead stated flatly. "What the hell is going on with you?"

"Nothing, un!"

"Brat, did you get into a fight already?" Sasori asked. It made sense, actually. The redhead specifically remembered giving his partner a lecture on how important it was not to engage in any sort of combat until they hit the main part of the headquarters. Still a good chunk of distance away, there was no way Deidara would readily admit he had already been in a fight.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, and every so often Sasori would look at the blond from the corner of his eye. No matter how many times he checked, Deidara didn't look like he was ready to answer. A few more minutes passed, and right before Sasori was about to snap at him, Deidara turned his head to look at his partner. "I didn't get into a fight, un."

It took a moment for the words to process. "What?" Sasori stammered. "You...what?"

"I didn't get into a fight, un," he repeated. "Sasori, I'm not stupid, I know we're not supposed to cause a scene until we're actually inside the headquarters, un."

The redhead blinked a few times. "Then...what did you do?"

With a small smile on his face, Deidara looked at his partner. "Nothing, un."

Oh, no. "Deidara, you look like—"

"Shut up, un."

"Brat, you—"

"Sasori, it's none of your business, un!" Deidara snapped. The sudden outburst was more than enough to both confirm the redhead's fears and get him to shut up. As they continued on their way towards the base, a sinking feeling hit Sasori hard in the gut. He knew exactly what had happened; after years in the criminal business, it wasn't hard for the pieces to fall into place.

"Deidara."

"_What_, _un_?" said blond spat,

The redhead acted as if he hadn't been curtly spoken to. As much as he would have loved to punch Deidara in the mouth, it would only escalate the blond's hysteria. "When we get inside, we're going to split up. That way, if one of us gets caught, the other has a chance to either complete the assignment or get the hell out of there. Okay?"

"Okay, un," Deidara replied quickly, keeping his eyes straight ahead. He had no desire to look at the redhead. What the hell did he care what the blond had done to get them this far? As long as the mission was a success, it didn't matter. God, why was Sasori getting him so nosy all of a sudden?

It wasn't until the Oto headquarters was in view that Sasori spoke again. "If you're going to light this place up, make sure the both of us are out first," he instructed, pulling his gun out of his pocket. He had triple checked to make sure the thing was fully loaded. The last thing he needed was for it to run out in the middle of a life threatening situation. Worst case scenario, Sasori had all of his guns loaded. Some with bullets, others with poisonous darts. He had built up a collection of tranquilizer guns over the years, and all he had to do was switch the tranquilizer with some poison to make the weapons more useful. "We can't just walk in through the front door, so—"

"There's a window open over there, un," Deidara interrupted, pointing to a wide open, screen less window. "Looks like today's our lucky day. I'll go in first, un."

"Don't get yourself shot, Deidara," Sasori mumbled, cocking his gun into place.

"I won't." Suddenly, the blond spun around and pulled Sasori into a rough kiss. When the two of them broke apart, the redhead stared at him, stunned. "A kiss for good luck, you ass, un."


	14. Chapter 13

Thankfully, Sasori and Deidara had broken into an abandoned lunch room. The scent of food still lingered there, making the two extremely aware of how close they had been to the room's previous occupants. As soon as they were in, and sure that they weren't in immediate danger, the two split.

Sasori found himself alone in the middle of the hallway, gun held up to his chest in the likely event that he would have to use it. His body was on high alert, adrenaline already beginning to rush through his body. He walked through the corridors, always glancing around him in case someone had managed to sneak up on him. His footsteps seemed so much louder than normal, and he feared that even breathing the wrong way would get him caught. The redhead had to admit that he wasn't exactly sure as to what he was doing. Pein hadn't specified how vicious he wanted their attack to be, and he didn't even mention gathering information. Most likely, the Akatsuki leader just wanted to ruffle Orochimaru's feathers enough to intimidate him.

A few minutes passed, and Sasori decided on finding the best place to attack. The less they had to do to get a sufficient result, the better. As he traveled through the building, there was a new feeling of panic in Sasori's chest that he had never felt before. He wasn't scared for himself, but rather for his partner. Not only that, but he was absolutely furious. This sort of rage was new to him as well. There was an intense desire to destroy either something or someone, but not solely for the sake of being destructive, which was usually his main motive. It was because of that stupid blond. He by no means wanted to hurt Deidara, but rather the bastard that had taken advantage of him. The redhead felt sick. But why? He didn't understand these feelings at all.

So absorbed in his thoughts, Sasori failed to realize the man that had been trailing behind him for God knows how long. By the time he realized, he felt the muzzle of a gun press against the base of his neck. "I see you've decided to grace us with your presence, Sasori Akasuna. Mind telling me the occasion?"

Immediately, the redhead recognized the voice. _Damn it._ "I'd spill, but I don't want to ruin the surprise, Kabuto."

Said man laughed heartily, pressing the gun harder against Sasori's flesh. "You look a bit ill. I presume you're here with someone?" Kabuto inquired.

"What gives you that idea?" After knowing the man for years, Sasori knew that he was sharper than most. Much as he wanted to, it was unlikely that the redhead would be able to squirm out of this situation.

"The Akatsuki never travels alone."

"Sharp as always. How has life been treating you?" Sasori asked, letting Kabuto push him forward with the gun.

"I'll spare the details. You don't have to pretend that you care, Sasori."

"Is my acquaintance here?"

"Unfortunately, no. Although I'm sure he would have been thrilled to see you."

The redhead rolled his eyes. "I bet."

"How's your blond?" Kabuto then asked, and it took most of Sasori's strength not to physically react. How had he known? While he was waiting for an answer, the Oto member led Sasori to a large metal door and unlocked it with his free hand.

"Fine," the redhead managed to blurt out. Not good. That means that there was probably someone after Deidara. And thanks to the little catastrophe earlier, the blond was not in his best shape.

"Oh? I heard he may or may not have given one of our men the time of his life," Kabuto murmured.

"Mm."

Kabuto spun the Sasori around and pointed the gun straight at his chest. He rose a brow before speaking again. "You seem uninterested. I thought you'd be a bit jealous."

In one quick move, Sasori had hit the gun away from his body, and had Kabuto pinned against the wall. "Who told you about Deidara?" the redhead growled, pushing his full weight against his victim. He wanted to kill him. Snap his neck. Stab him. Anything.

"The guard, of course. Did you expect him to keep his mouth shut?" Kabuto began. "He let you through because he doesn't like to deal with bloodshed. He'd rather just let you get shot in here."

"Ah."

"I'm honestly a bit surprised about your partner, though. Pein usually gives the whores to—SHIT!"Kabuto cried out, trying to pull away from the redhead.

Not wanting him to finish, Sasori had shot forward and stabbed the man in the middle of his torso, most likely hitting at least one of his organs. "Oh my God," the Oto member gasped out, hands trying to grab at his gushing wound.

"I'll fucking _kill_ you." Sasori growled, pushing the knife harder against his victim.

Even in the midst of his pain, the man still managed to speak as if nothing had happened. "Oh, you've taken an interest to this one? That's cute," Kabuto murmured.

"You're sick."

"No, I'm right. Sasori, don't forget that I've known you for _years_."

"Most of the time, I try to forget."

"Yes, yes, that sounds like you."

"Where's the guard."

"Where's Deidara?"

Kabuto smirked. "Oh, you really don't want me to answer that. I know you don't handle jealousy well."

Sasori's mouth twitched. "Shut _up_."

"I'd keep an eye out for your fuck buddy, if I were you. He can't be doing too well on his own."

As if on cue, alarms began to go off, sending their screeching sound echoing through the hallway. A brief smirk crossed Kabuto's face. "Oh. Looks like he's done for."

The redhead twisted the knife, smiling when his victim cried out in pain. Good, he was hoping to get that cocky look off his face. To make sure he wouldn't follow the redhead, Sasori slammed the boy's head against the wall, knocking him unconscious.

He turned to leave, but halfway through the motion, a blunt object hit in in the back of the neck, making everything go black. The redhead stumbled for a moment, then collapsed to the ground.

Deidara wandered through the dimly lit corridor, swearing every time he tripped over a loose tile. His hips ached, and the constant stumbling around wasn't helping him any. This place was practically falling apart. _I couldn't make this any worse if I tried,_ Deidara grumbled silently, kicking a tile across the floor, not exactly surprised that no one had come running at the sound of it ricocheting off of the wall.

In his right hand, Deidara clenched his pistol, prepared for a sudden attack from any direction. He had seen no turns yet, but that didn't mean that there were some hidden away. He didn't put anything past these Oto bastards. Upon hearing what he thought to be footsteps, Deidara pressed his back against the wall, concealing himself as best he could. He had his gun cocked, surprised when he didn't see anyone. With a shrug, he continued in the same direction, quite sure that he had been down this hallway at least once already.

What worried him more than that was that there was no sigh of Sasori anywhere. Anywhere else, he wouldn't have thought twice about it. After all, the redhead was more than capable of taking care of himself. But with a man that was stronger than most of the Akatsuki combined as their opponent, how could the blond not be at least a little bit concerned?

He continued along the unending hallway, not exactly keeping track of where he had been going. He had kept hearing footsteps, but no one ever showed up. There had to be an opening somewhere. But how was he supposed to find it? Continuing on a bit further, he made it a few feet before coming to a complete halt. _That's it!_

"If I can't go to them, I'll just make them come to me, un," he said softly. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the small butterfly from earlier. It was already wired to go off, so he was careful to place it on the ground with as much care as he could. Once he was sure it was in a good spot, he bolted. A few hundred feet away from it, he pulled out the trigger, and pressed down. The floor shook, and he could hear part of the ceiling cave in. It was a relatively small bomb, but it was enough to get the job done.

Unfortunately, he wasn't far enough away. The force of the explosion threw Deidara forward, and a hot, burning sensation swept over his back. He cursed loudly, but didn't pay much attention to it. He had gotten wounds from his bombs before; it was no big deal. Besides, he wouldn't feel it until after his assignment was complete anyway.

The smoke cleared, going up in wisps into the blue sky that was now clearly visible from inside the building. For a moment, save for the sound of crumbling concrete, everything was silent. Then, slowly, Deidara got the reaction he desired. First, there was the shouting of several people from the other side of the building, followed by alarms. Good, good. This was all going according to plan.

He pulled out his gun, smirking when he saw at least a dozen clueless fools racing towards him. Part of him almost felt bad as he picked them off one by one, but he quickly shook off the feeling and pressed forward. The explosion had taken down one of the walls, revealing a passageway that seemed to stretch into darkness.

_Looks like I know where I'm going_, Deidara said to himself, immediately taking the passageway before more opponents arrived. The hallway, he sound found out, was relatively short. It was completely dark, but only a few hundred feet ahead, there was a door. Cautiously, he pulled it open, only to slam it shut upon hearing a gunshot not a second later. "Fuck, un..." he grumbled, cocking his gun. He opened the door again, this time sticking the gun through the opening and firing several shots. There was a loud cry, signaling that it was probably safe for the blond to go through. Swinging the door open, he bolted into the next area, not surprised to find that there were many more Oto members in this section.

Due to the alarms, most—if not all—of the individuals were frantic, and either immediately lunged at the blond, or grabbed their guns. Without hesitation, Deidara began firing back, shielding himself the best he could until he rounded the corner of the new hallway. The first thing he saw was a huge metal door. Seizing the opportunity, he pulled it open and dove inside, slamming the thing shut behind him.

Gasping heavily, he let himself slide down the door until he hit the ground. God, that had been much closer than he would have liked. It wasn't, thankfully, as bad as many of the other situations he had been stuck in before. At least he had managed to find an empty room to—

"Would you look at that! The other one just walked right in."

Deidara's eyes snapped open, and he looked straight ahead to find two men guarding a struggling body. "Fuck, un," he groaned, picking himself up. Not surprisingly, they immediately pointed their guns at him. "What do you have there, un?" he asked, motioning to the man on the ground. He had obviously been injured, and was begging for some sort of assistance.

"He's one of ours," one of the guards stated plainly.

"Ah."

"You might find something more interesting over there, bitch," the other said, nodding to the left. Deidara followed with his eyes, and his jaw nearly dropped. Sasori was sitting there, absolutely motionless.

"Sasori, un?"

"Who else, brat?"

"What are you doing, un?"

"...Being held hostage, you idiot. I'm cuffed. I stabbed Kabuto, knocked him out, and then got knocked out in return. Apparently, he woke up," Sasori explained nonchalantly.

"Kid, drop your weapons before we have to use—"

One shot later, the man was on the ground. "Don't talk to your enemy on the battlefield, fuckers, un," Deidara grumbled, cracking his neck casually. He ducked just in time to dodge a bullet from the other guard, cursing loudly while he did so.

"One wrong move, and I'll blast your guy's head all over the wall," the guard threatened, pointing the gun at Sasori.

"Wrong move, un." Deidara lunged at his remaining opponent and threw him to the ground, firing a bulled into his pelvis not a moment after. The man screamed, grabbing at his wound.

"Do _not_ point that at him. Do not touch him, un," Deidara hissed, stamping down on the man's chest. Upon hearing a crack, he pushed down harder. "Who the hell do you think you are, un?" the blond growled, stamping down on the man's broken bones once more.

"G-get off of me, you bastard!"

The blond rose a brow. "Aw, that's adorable," he cooed before kicking the thug in the face. Deidara leaned over to pull him up. "You are a sick, disgusting excuse for a human being. You don't deserve to even _look_ at Sasori."

At this, the redhead rose a brow. What the hell was going on? "Deidara—" Before he could get another word out, the blond's guns went off, sending the thug's blood splattering all over the floor. The blond's hands were shaking, and he looked like he was about to be sick. He stumbled forward, but quickly regained his composure.

"Deidara..." he repeated, standing up to approach his partner. "Are you okay?" he asked gently, staring at the shaking boy.

He stared at Sasori for what seemed like an eternity before responding. "I am sore, stressed, injured, and exhausted. I don't want to be here anymore. I don't like it here. So help me God, if we don't—"

"You look awful."

"Thanks, I couldn't tell." Then, suddenly remembering that his partner was chained up, Deidara rushed over to undo the redhead's handcuffs. "You let your guard down, un."

"No shit."

"I set up a bomb in what looked like a weaponry room. If we get out of here in time, we can probably set it off without a problem, un."

"There's a window in here, and we're still on the first floor."

"I'll make it happen, un."

"Good."

"This wasn't so bad, you know, un."

"I don't think Orochimaru has been here for a while; everything looks like it's falling apart."

Deidara blinked a few times. "Oh. I thought it was supposed to look like that, un."

"Hardly. He always kept everything looking pristine."

After a bit more fiddling, the handcuffs popped off. "Let's get the fuck out of here, un."

Sasori nodded, and got to his feet. While Deidara opened up the window and hoisted himself out, the redhead took a moment to stop next to Kabuto. The man was still writhing in pain, but it didn't bother Sasori in the least. "Well. You're going to have a pretty shitty time, Kabuto. I'd love to say it was nice knowing you, but I'm not one for lying during a human's final moments."

With that, he hoisted himself out the window and caught up with his partner.


	15. Chapter 14

It wasn't until they were far away from Oto that Sasori realized that they had completed their assignment. Not only that, but Deidara still seemed to be relatively sane. The kid hadn't lost it...in fact, he acted the same as always.

When they were a good quarter of a mile away, Deidara set off his trigger, and the two watched as the building went up in smoke. "Is that it, un?"

"For this location, yes. There's at least a dozen more spots, but we did our part," Sasori said, breathing a sigh of relief. "If that doesn't give them one hell of a scare, I don't know what will."

"Un," the blond grunted, nodding in agreement.

"Deidara, do you think it would be better if we split up until we got back to the city?"

The bomber cocked his head to the side. Where had that come from? "Well. I guess so, un. But after blowing their entire building sky high, do you really think we need to worry about it?"

Sasori shrugged. "I'd rather be safe than sorry." His partner thought about it, somewhat unsure. "Why don't I go ahead. I'll meet you at the pastry shop, okay?"

"I guess, un."

"Good." And with that, the redhead ran ahead, soon disappearing from sight.

Deidara walked back the way they had came, gun and explosives easily accessible if need be. They hadn't exactly left silently, and the blond was still on edge. His heart slammed rapidly against his chest, often feeling as if it would burst free from his body.

Thankfully, he had yet to run into any of the guards he had seen on the way to the Oto headquarters, and he was practically out of the forest. They must have all went running after they heard the explosion they set off. The only one he was really worried about was the first guard. The man was far enough away to make the bomb's damage seem less drastic, and he also seemed the least likely to throw his life away for the gang. He'd just stay stationed where he was and let the diehards take care of the problem.

As worried as he was, however, Deidara couldn't help but wish the man had stayed at his checkpoint. After the shit he had to go through in order to get himself to the Oto base, nothing would please the blond more than shooting the man square in the face and leaving him to bleed out.

After a few minutes of walking, he found himself only a quarter of a mile away from the first guard's post, and sure enough, the man was still there. A bittersweet feeling began to gather itself deep in Deidara's chest, and he felt himself tighten his hand around his pistol. The guard was sitting on the ground, slouched over. How could he have slept through that explosion? The blond was going to be lucky if he got out before the police arrived.

It wasn't until he was practically next to the man that he realized something was wrong. There was a sickening stench in the air, and it took most of Deidara's will power not to gag. Reluctantly, he looked down at the guard. _My God, that's disgusting._ Blood was seeping through the man's shirt, leaking so much that it was beginning to pool beneath him. The shirt itself had been torn badly, and Deidara could see the hints of horrendous flesh wounds beneath it. Out of reluctant curiosity, the blond found himself leaning closer to the body. With one hand on his gun, he used the other to tilt up the face of what used to be a living person.

Just seeing the face was enough to make him nauseous.

What could have previously been described as a face was now mangled flesh. One of the man's eyeballs had been completely torn out, and deep knife wounds had pulled the skin on his face apart. He was still dripping blood, meaning that the wound was very new. His mouth had been slit on both sides, exposing his yellowed teeth.

Deidara had never gotten nauseous to the point of throwing up during his work. There was never a time where he had been truly disgusted by what he had seen or done. Apparently, it was never to early to start.

Unable to stop himself, Deidara vomited all over the ground next to the deceased guard, just barely moving his hair out of the way in time. He wanted to stop running. Stop moving. His head spun, and he took in short, quick breaths. He tried to calm himself, but all of his thoughts only made it worse. Where had Sasori gone? What if the man that had done this had also caught up to him? _Oh, no._

Once his last thought hit him, Deidara was up on shaky legs, once again sprinting in the direction of his destination. He needed to catch up to Sasori, _fast_. He wasn't about to let the redhead continue on his own after seeing that. Just the thought of it wanted to make him throw up again.

By the time he had gotten to the tea shop, he was able to suppress the memory of the guard long enough to find Sasori. The redhead was sitting at a small table in the corner of the shop, staring down at a cup of steaming tea. He must have taken money off of one of the Oto corpses.

Deidara never thought he would be so happy to see this man in his entire life. He practically flew across the room and threw himself into the chair across from the redhead. "Sasori, un!"

Sasori looked up at him for a brief moment before looking back down at his beverage. "What, brat? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Worse, un."

At this, Sasori couldn't help but raise a brow. "What?" He waited for his partner to speak, but several minutes passed and not a single word came from the blond's mouth. "Brat, what is it?" he asked in an exasperated tone. He couldn't be irritated; the boy was white as a sheet. That, and he was thrilled that Deidara had managed to blow the Oto base to smithereens. For that, he deserved at least a bit of courtesy from the redhead.

"I...you know that guard we passed?"

Sasori's eyes widened ever so slightly, but he said nothing. He already knew what this was going to be about. "Which one?" he asked, as if he had no idea what his partner was talking about.

"The first one."

"...Yes?"

"He was murdered, un," Deidara whispered, afraid to look the redhead straight in the face. All of a sudden, the nausea that he had tried so hard to suppress was coming back full force. One hand immediately shot up to his mouth, as if that would make it any better.

"Deidara...you have killed dozens of people. Blown them up, shot them in cold blood, and probably quite a few other things, too. What the hell has gotten into you all of a sudden?"

The blond couldn't help but laugh at this. "I don't give a shit that he's dead, un. But...I don't know. Something about the way it was carried out. I like to kill my victims peacefully, unless they truly deserved more, un."

"How did you know that this man didn't deserve more?" Sasori inquired, wrapping a hand around the still warm tea.

Deidara shrugged. "I don't know. It was just gross, un." When Sasori's cup of tea was thrust in his direction, he rose a brow. "Un?"

"It'll calm your nerves," Sasori said, waiting until his partner had taken a sip of the tea before continuing. "Deidara, I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to give me the truth," Sasori stated, making sure to use the boy's name. He knew that if the word "brat" slipped from his lips, his chances at getting the answer he wanted were completely shot.

Deidara took another sip of tea and wrapped both hands around the cup. If anything, the warmth it gave off was soothing. "Depends, un."

The redhead sighed. Great. Still, he was going to take his chances. "What did you do with that man?"

"Who, un?"

Sasori had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. The kid was definitely playing dumb. "The guard." As soon as these two words passed his lips, he could see Deidara's face begin to turn a deep scarlet. Again, a knot began to form in the redhead's stomach. He already knew what was coming, but he needed to hear it from his partner to be sure. He was hoping that Kabuto was lying, and that he was making the whole situation up in his head.

"I already told you, un."

"You're a terrible liar."

For the longest time, Deidara looked around the tea shop for any way to escape. Much to his dismay, no such opportunity arose. Finally, he turned back to Sasori and sighed. "I don't want to talk about it, un."

"Why?"

"Because it's gross, un."

"It can't be any worse than what his face looked like on the way back."

Deidara's eyes widened. "Wait, you saw it?"

"You still haven't answered my question," Sasori said, completely avoiding what Deidara had just asked. That was something he'd save for another time. Namely, any time when Deidara wasn't close to an emotional breakdown.

"I don't want to, un."

"We're not leaving until you tell me."

"Well, we're going to be sitting here for a fucking long time then, un," Deidara snapped, now glowering at his partner. What did the redhead care, anyway?

"Deidara, it can't be that bad," Sasori said, trying to reassure both Deidara and himself. Yeah, it couldn't be that bad...right?

"Un," the blond grumbled, eyes glued to the table. He was getting tense, and all he wanted was for Sasori to just leave him alone. What did it matter what he had done? He had gotten them to the headquarters, and that was all that had mattered. They completed the mission successfully, and there had been no major physical injuries. Deidara began to feel nauseous again, and he could feel his face burning. Sasori was seeing right through him, and as much as he wanted to, he knew he wasn't going to be able to keep this a secret.

"Deidara, for the love of all that's holy, will you just tell me!"

"I slept with him, okay, un?!" Deidara screeched, making direct eye contact with his partner. For a moment, the redhead was truly worried that he was going to launch across the table and attack him. "I took him away from his post, let him do whatever the fuck he wanted, and then caught up with you, un! Why the fuck do you _care_?! Why couldn't you just drop it, you good for nothing bastard! _Why did you have to make me come out and say it, un?!_"

Sasori's heart sank, and he grasped for any sort of rational thought he could get his hands on. As soon as Deidara caught up to him on their trek to the headquarters, he knew something was wrong. He was often regarded as one of the sharpest members of the Akatsuki, and sometimes even the greatest of compliments had their down sides. Had he been just a little bit more oblivious, maybe he wouldn't have noticed. And if he hadn't noticed, he never would have asked about it. Even more important than that, had he not cared, he never would have pushed for an answer only a few seconds ago. The look on his partner's face was enough to tighten the knot in his stomach to the point of feeling physically ill. He could feel adrenaline begin to course through his body, even though he was in absolutely no danger whatsoever.

Sasori opened his mouth multiple times to speak, but nothing came out. What could he have said? An apology wasn't going to get him anywhere. And the shaking blond sitting across from him didn't seem like he was about to listen. The boy's face was an even brighter shade of red than before, and it was obvious that he just wanted to curl up into a ball and die.

"Deidara..." he finally got out. But at the sound of his voice, said blond squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in his hands. Great, the kid definitely wasn't going to listen to him.

All of a sudden, Deidara looked up. His eyes were watering, but the red in his face had begun to die down. "Do you remember when I first joined the Akatsuki? We could never keep ourselves from trying to kill each other, un. It was amazing I survived. But do you know what stuck with me the most out of those two weeks?" Deidara asked, looking at Sasori but not actually seeing him. He was lost in the past, remembering everything as if it had just happened.

"What?" Sasori managed to say, eyes locked on the blond. He could snap at any moment, and he wanted to be prepared. The last time this happened, the redhead almost ended up with a few broken bones. He had never seen his partner act anything like this, and describing it as terrifying would be a gross understatement.

"The first day I managed to hit you back, un. You called me a faggot and you implied that I was a dirty whore. I always remember how satisfying that first punch was just as much as I remembered those words." He took a moment to sigh softly. "It wasn't that you had said them; after all, who hasn't gotten those insults thrown at them before? It was the way you looked at me. You really meant it. That's what had made me snap. And now, looking back on it...well. You were right, un," Deidara said, voice growing quieter with each word he spoke. By the time he finished, Sasori was leaning forward to hear him.

And if hearing those words didn't make Sasori feel like the biggest asshole in the universe, he didn't know what else would. "Deidara, I didn't—"

"Oh, cut the shit, Sasori. Up until now, I always told myself that you were wrong...and now that I'm sitting here, telling you that I slept with a stranger to get us into the Oto headquarters makes me realize how right you were. If that doesn't make me hate myself—"

"Shut up!" Sasori hissed, all but lunging across the table to seize his partner. The blond pushed his chair back, clearly terrified. Neither had any desire to fight, but Sasori couldn't shut the kid up without some harshness in his voice. He honestly couldn't remember ever saying that to the blond, probably because he threw so much verbal abuse his way that it had all become a blur.

"What, Sasori?"

"Don't talk like that," Sasori demanded, narrowing his eyes at the blond.

At this, Deidara had to muffle a laugh. "Don't act like my mother, un."

"Dei," Sasori began, sighing heavily. At the nickname, the blond rose a brow. He had never heard that come out of Sasori's mouth before. Had one of the Oto thugs hit him in the head just a bit too hard?

"What, un?"

"Nevermind."

"Un?"

"Forget it. We need to go back to Akatsuki."

The trek back to the Akatsuki headquarters was nothing short of miserable for Deidara. The two artists had stopped in various stores, whether they were interested in them or not, to make sure that no stragglers from Oto had followed them. The last thing they needed was a couple of thugs knowing the path to their base. What made the elongated journey even worse was the uncomfortable silence that hung over the two. Deidara looked like an absolute wreck, and walked with his eye glued to the ground. Even when Sasori addressed him, he refused to look up. Eventually, the redhead gave up and let the kid be. There was no point in trying to talk to him like this; he was only wasting his breath. The puppeteer would have to let his partner get back and sleep the whole thing off for a few hours before there was a chance of the blond responding.

After adding an extra hour and a half onto their journey, Sasori and Deidara stumbled back into their headquarters, dead bolting the door for good measure. There was still a high possibility that they had been followed back, meaning there was no such thing as too careful.

The redhead knew his partner would make a beeline for their room, as if it would help him get away from the current situation. Following the bomber, Sasori slipped into the room right before Deidara slammed the door shut.

"Brat, what the hell?"

At the words, Deidara whipped around, a look somewhere between rage and anxiety crossing his face. He charged at the redhead, who made no move to get out of his way. Instead of slamming him in the face like he expected, the blond threw a weak punch that Sasori caught with little effort. "Stop it!" Deidara whispered, trying his best to pull his fist away. Sasori, on the other hand, knew better than to let go. When he saw that he couldn't get free, Deidara threw another punch, which his partner easily avoided. The redhead looked away from him for a moment, only to widen his eyes when he looked back.

Deidara, the man who had spent most of his time in the Akatsuki trying to prove to Sasori that he was one of the strongest people there, the man who had been responsible for terrorist attacks all over the country, the man who had practically torn a woman apart because she stood between him and Sasori, had tears running down his face.

This boy _never_ cried. His eyes watered up sometimes, he said things that would have broken down most human beings, and he swore to high heaven, but he never,_ ever_ cried. His ego was too big for that. The blond had too much pride...crying would have made him lose it all. But now, Sasori saw that his partner was truly helpless. Had it been in any other situation, the puppeteer would have backhanded him and told him to pull himself together. But not now. He couldn't. Sure, the redhead was cruel, ruthless, and nothing short of an absolute psychopath, but even he wouldn't hit this kid while he was down. That was just too low.

Instead, Sasori released Deidara's hand. "Dei, why don't you sit," he suggested, leading the blond over to his bed. The boy slowly took a seat, and once he was down, Sasori sat next to him. "Talk to me."

Deidara shook his head once, wiping the tears off of his face with the back of his hand. "I can't, un."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to, un." Sasori had to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

"Were you injured during the assignment?"

"Yes, un."

"Would you like me to take a look at it?"

"No."

Sasori sighed softly. This wasn't getting anywhere. "Dei, why don't you go take a shower? It'll help calm you down a little," he suggested, rubbing the blond's back in a circular motion while he spoke. "I need to talk to you about something important when you get out, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Deidara furrowed his brow and looked at his partner. "What is it, un?" he asked, absolutely amazed that the redhead was acting so calm. He had expected at least one blow to the face by now.

"It would be better if I talked to you after you showered."

"But—"

"Dei...please?" The blond looked at him for what seemed like an eternity before nodding and getting up from the bed. As soon as Sasori heard the bathroom door lock, he let himself fall backwards onto Deidara's bed and cursed to himself. Dealing with a casualty would have been easier than this.


	16. Chapter 15

Sasori, still on Deidara's bed, could hear the sound of retching almost immediately after Deidara got out of the shower. His partner must have made himself sick from stress. He thought about knocking on the door to see if the blond was alright, but quickly decided against it. It would be better to leave the blond alone until he came out. Which, sure enough, was only a few moments later. When he stepped out, Sasori had to keep himself from furrowing his brows. His partner was wearing a new pair of pants, but was holding his shirt over the front of his torso, as if he were trying to hide part of himself.

"Are you okay?" Sasori asked as calmly as he could, keeping his eyes on the blond's face. Unfortunately, it was much easier said than done; Deidara's eyes were glassy, almost as if he had died. His face appeared emotionless, which was something the redhead had almost never seen. Deidara always had some sort of expression on his face, whether it was anger, smugness, or happiness, there was always something there. To see his face completely void was enough to make Sasori want to look away.

For a moment, Deidara said nothing, and then he shook his head. "I need help, un," he whispered, refusing to make eye contact with the puppeteer.

"What is it?" Sasori asked, quickly getting up from his spot.

Without a word, Deidara turned around to show the redhead his back. The skin had been completely burnt, and was beet red. Parts were already beginning to peel, and it looked like others were going to begin to swell up. Not a second later, Sasori was tearing through his desk, pulling out whatever medical supplies he could get his hands on. He definitely had burn cream, but he was going to have to cover the burns with some sort of bandaging. If he didn't, there was no way the blond was going to be able to get an ounce of sleep. Any sort of rubbing against the burns would result in an excruciating pain.

As soon as he got his hands on some burn cream, Sasori seized Deidara by the wrist, accidentally making him drop the shirt. The blond's eyes widened, and his partner couldn't help but look at his chest. As quickly as he could, the redhead looked away and sat Deidara down at his desk, chest against the back of the chair. In that one second, Sasori had managed to spot several hickeys, as well as two huge bruises that completely covered the bomber's sides.

Something that could only be described as pure rage began to boil up inside of Sasori's chest. He wasn't angry at Deidara; with the blond's current condition, it would be absolutely ridiculous. Rather, he was infuriated with the deceased guard that had no doubt caused the injuries. "Deidara, where did you get these burns from?" he asked as calmly as he could manage, although he could feel his voice shake while he spoke.

Thankfully, the blond didn't seem to take notice. "I set off a bomb to attract attention, un. I was careless, and I didn't get far enough away..." he trailed off, voice dropping with each word, as if he expected to get scolded for his negligence. Which, in any other situation, was a very realistic possibility.

"They'll heal up in a few weeks," Sasori said, squirting a generous amount of burn cream into his hands. As soon as he touched Deidara's back, the boy inhaled sharply and tried to move away, not expecting it to be so cold. "You're lucky you didn't get any third degree burns. They're all first or second, for the most part."

"Yeah, un," Deidara murmured, letting his arms hang over the back of the chair.

"Did you get any burns on your chest?"

"No, I turned around just in case any debris hit me, un," Deidara murmured. "Don't bother putting bandages on."

"It's going to be harder to sleep."

Deidara shrugged. "It's fine."

The redhead leaned close to his partner, who was currently busy staring at the wall. It wasn't until his mouth was practically next to the blond's ear that he spoke. "What did he do to you?"

The blond shook his head. "Nothing, un."

"It doesn't look like 'nothing' to me," Sasori retorted, hands moving up to gently massage his partner's shoulders.

"What did you want to talk to me about, un?" Deidara inquired, quickly changing the subject.

"The guard, he was—"

"I don't want to talk about it, Sasori, un."

"Listen, this is important."

"I can't say I give a shit, un."

"Brat, I fucking killed him!"

That was enough to freeze Deidara in his spot, eyes widened like he had just seen a ghost. He tried to form words, but nothing came out. The corpse's mangled body made its way into Deidara's mind, and he tried to shake it out, but it refused to go. The guard had been absolutely _destroyed_. "You...did that, un?" he whispered, taking a step back. "Why, un?"

"Do you think I'm oblivious?" Sasori inquired, raising a brow as if he were actually amused. "I knew what happened as soon as you caught up with me, brat."

Deidara's eyes widened. Then why had he forced the blond to tell him? Part of him wanted to be angry, but a larger part was terrified of what his partner would do if he completely blew up now. "But..."

"What, brat?"

"Why didn't you just shoot him, un?"

Sasori had to hold his tongue, afraid that he would throw a stinging insult at the blond. He settled on shrugging and looking away from the bomber. "I was angry."

"Why, un?" When he received no response, the blond turned around. Sasori was looking at a spot just above Deidara's head, hardly paying attention to what he was saying. "Sasori!"

"I was angry. I was so, _so_ angry. And I just...lost it."

"But..._why_, un?" Deidara repeated, hoping to get an answer this time.

"Because he hurt you, brat," Sasori explained simply, as if the answer were extremely obvious.

"...Un?"

Sasori sighed. "When you came back, you were hurt."

"Yeah, but—"

"'But' nothing. He was responsible for hurting you, and I intended on giving him that same kind of hurt on my way back."

Deidara decided it would be best not to ask "why" again, for fear that the redhead would lose his temper. He understood that Sasori had gotten angry because Deidara was hurt, and that he had killed the man because of a severe emotional reaction. But...what did it matter if the blond got hurt? It happened all the time. Especially since it was a very private matter, he didn't understand why Sasori got himself directly involved in it, or why he kept going at Deidara like the Spanish Inquisition about it.

"Sasori, what did killing him accomplish, un?" he asked instead.

Sasori shrugged. "I blew off some steam and killed a total bastard."

"What does it matter that he fucked me, un?" Deidara then blurted out, not sure how the redhead was going to react.

"Because he—"

"Yeah, yeah, I got that already, un. But what does that matter? It's completely irrelevant to the Akatsuki, it wouldn't have harmed our work in any way, and it was an entirely personal matter. You're the one that keeps bringing it up, un!" Deidara exclaimed, surprised when a small smile broke out on Sasori's face. A moment later, it faded, and he stared at the blond with a blank expression on his face. He thought for a few seconds, and his face twisted, giving him a pained look.

"Because I couldn't _stop_ it!" Sasori shouted suddenly, seizing the blond by his upper arms. The blond tensed up, knowing that if something bad happened, there was no way for him to get out of it. "Why couldn't I _do_ anything! Fuck, Deidara, I didn't want this to happen to you..." Sasori whispered, leaning forward to press their foreheads together.

"I...I don't understand, un," Deidara whispered, although he really did. But he didn't want to.

"God, you're so oblivious, brat," Sasori murmured, releasing his grip on the bomber.

"Un?"

"I'm going to go for a walk. I need to let off some steam."

The door slammed shut, and Deidara could do nothing but stare at where Sasori was, perplexed, but too exhausted to think of the matter any further. He was miserable, sore, and he wanted to go to bed. It was too early for that, though. Konan would no doubt be in his room soon, asking how their assignment had been.

With a heavy sigh, he limped his way over to the bed and collapsed into it, absorbed in the comfort of the sheets against his skin. Still, his mind was on Sasori. What the hell was that? The redhead was always up front with him. What had made him begin to beat around the bush now? Deidara's chest ached. He, unfortunately, longed for the redhead to be there. Why? Hell, he had no idea.

Much to his dismay, his curiosity had been piqued about his partner's words, and now he wanted to find Sasori. With a defeated sigh, he pulled himself back out of bed and slowly made his way to follow the redhead. There was no way the man would have gone outside; they'd be in lock down until Pein made sure the area was secure. Where had Sasori gone the last time he was stuck in the base...

Deidara snapped his fingers, and tried to stand up, only to collapse a moment later. On the other hand, maybe he could wait for the redhead to get back.

It was late, but Sasori knew his friend would still be awake. The Uchiha only slept about four hours a night, meaning that there were still quite a few hours to catch him. The redhead knocked on the door this time, just in case. Not ten seconds later, the door swung open and Itachi looked at him, somewhat confused. "Aren't you usually sleeping right now?"

"I can't stay in my room," Sasori explained quickly, letting himself into Itachi's room. Kisame's bed was still made, meaning that the man had yet to return from his assignment. "How's Kisame?"

"Good. He stopped at a motel on the way back; he finished up his work about an hour ago."

Itachi watched the redhead carefully, observing all of his movements. Especially when it came to conversing with the Uchiha, his body language said more than his words. "You're angry."

"I'd applaud you for the observation, but I think it's pretty obvious."

Itachi nodded. "It also wouldn't take a genius to figure out that it's because of Deidara."

"Loosely."

"Something happened to him, yes?"

"Mhm."

"The kid looked like a wreck when he got back," Itachi commented.

"I know."

"Would you like to tell me?"

"It would help."

"Hn," the Uchiha grunted, signaling for the redhead to begin.

Sasori took a deep breath, and ran a hand through his hair. "Deidara got is into Oto by sleeping with one of the guards," he explained quickly, trying not to get upset at the thought.

"Ah, so now your chances of banging him anytime soon are essentially shot."

"Though it's true...that was actually not what I was going for."

"Interesting."

The redhead shrugged. "That would have been _easy_ to deal with. You see, I saw Kabuto there. That in and of itself isn't all that extraordinary, but he said something about Deidara, and I attacked him."

"Oh? Why?"

"I don't know."

Itachi rose a brow. "Now _that_ is unlikely. You, from what I have gathered, are hyper aware of your emotions. You just ignore the ones you find displeasing."

"Such as?"

The Uchiha shrugged. "Jealousy, love, human sympathy, kindness...I could go on, but I think you get my point."

Sasori nodded. "It's necessary if one wants to avoid emotional hesitation."

"It's useful when it comes to battle, interrogation, and kidnapping. In the current situation, I believe your smothering of emotions is proving to be rather detrimental."

"How so?" Sasori inquired, running his hands through his hair again.

"How about you tell me?"

Oh, that was so like the Uchiha. Playing along, Sasori sat for a moment, twiddling his thumbs together. "Oh, God," he groaned, letting his face fall into his hands.

"You are overly possessive. You found that the Oto guard slept with Deidara, and you got jealous. Jealousy turned into rage, and you took it out on the first person to mention your partner in a negative light. But why were you jealous? Certainly not because he was having sex. It's deeper than that. But what is it?" Itachi prompted, rolling himself a joint as he spoke.

The redhead sat in silence, shaking his head. "It makes me feel sick."

"Are you disgusted by Deidara?"

"No!"

"He was the one to suggest sex, after all..."

"He's insane. He has no limitation on his sexual promiscuity," Sasori shot back, glaring at his friend.

"You're not going deep enough. I'd offer you some weed, but I want you to figure this out first. The answer is very simple," Itachi said with a smirk.

"I killed the guard, you know," Sasori murmured, letting the topic drift somewhat.

"Did you?"

Sasori nodded. "He was disgusting."

"You forget that Deidara initiated it. If the boy offered to sleep with you, no strings attached, you would accept in a heartbeat."

"He _hurt_ my partner."

"Kisame gets hurt all the time, and I find no reason to seek revenge."

"I wanted him dead...because Deidara was hurt," Sasori murmured, mostly to himself. As he turned the words over in his head, they began to make sense.

"What do you care?"

"Seeing him like that infuriates me."

"Did you tell him that?"

"Of course not."

"Ah. Why?"

He shrugged. "It isn't important."

"Do you still feel sick?"

"Somewhat."

"Because Deidara is hurt?" Sasori nodded. "How do you feel around him?"

"Angry. Sick. Nervous. Worried."

"Anything else?"

"Every once in a while, the brat makes me happy."

"Sasori, have you ever experienced a crush before?" Itachi inquired, pulling out his lighter.

"No, and I don't intend to," the redhead snapped back.

The Uchiha nodded slowly. "Mhm. You might want to look into it. Unfortunately for you, I think it's a bit too late to be avoided," he said casually.

Sasori's eyes widened. He blinked a few times and glanced at Itachi, who was obviously waiting for some sort of response. "You're not saying..."

"It's likely."

"...Fuck."

Itachi couldn't help but smirk at his friend's response. "You should get back. I want to get a smoke in before I go to bed."

"Fair enough. I'll see you around."

"Hn."

Sasori returned to his room to find Deidara lying on his bed with an open book in his hand. When the redhead came in, he paid him no attention. He looked more than uninterested in the book, but it was likely that he was just as uninterested in talking to his partner.

"I didn't know you liked reading," Sasori commented, leaning to the side to get a better look at the novel.

"I don't, un," Deidara grumbled. "But everything hurts, and this is the least painful pastime I can think of," he explained, unenthusiastically flipping a page as he spoke.

Sasori nodded, and sat next to the blond. His partner squirmed a bit, then settled back into place. "I've read that book."

Deidara glanced past the book to give him a flat look. "I know. It's yours, un."

"Ah."

"You're not mad, un?"

"I have too much to think about to care."

"Huh."

Sasori looked his partner over, and experienced the same wild anger despite knowing that he would see the bruises decorating the blond's chest. He managed to mask it well enough, trying his best to take his eyes off Deidara's torso.

Not fully aware of what he was doing, he began to run his hand gently over the blond's collarbone. He felt the young man shudder at his touch, which made the redhead's face begin to grow hot. It wasn't until Deidara began to inch away that they started to speak again.

"What are you doing, un?" Deidara grumbled, hitting Sasori's hand away with the book. When the redhead did nothing but shrug, he scowled.

"Geez, you're in a bad mood."

"Everything hurts, un."

"I'm sorry."

"What, un?"

"I'm sorry," Sasori repeated.

"...Un."

The puppeteer stretched his arms as he spoke. "Aren't you tired? It's almost one in the morning."

"Yes, un."

"Why aren't you sleeping, then?"

"I wanted to wait until you came back, un," Deidara stated plainly, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary about his statement.

Sasori, on the other hand, felt himself blushing even more. "Why?"

The blond shrugged. "No idea."

"That's a load of shit." The redhead sighed, and took the book out of his partner's hands. "Go to bed." Not long after the words came out of his mouth, Sasori found himself moving the covers back.

"Sasori—Hey, what are you doing?" Deidara cried out, scooting to the far corner of the bed. T he redhead, not long after moving the covers, began to climb into the bed.

"God, you're loud, brat." He flicked Deidara's light off and adjusted himself so that he was relatively comfortable. The bed wasn't made for two full sized men, leaving the artists cramped and practically crushed against each other.

"What the fuck, Sasori, un."

"I can leave, if you'd like."

"Why are you in my bed."

At this, the redhead shrugged. "Use your imagination, brat."

Deidara groaned, and tried to turn over so that his back was facing his partner. While he succeeded, he found himself pressed against the redhead in a more compromising position than he would have liked. "Goddamnit, un."

"I'll get up."

"No, you're warm, un."


	17. Chapter 16

Though it was not often, there were times in his life where Sasori honestly believed that karma was getting back at him for all of the awful things he had done in his life. He couldn't remember anything particularly horrendous he had done as of late, but that didn't mean much. After all, his perception of right and wrong were long gone. Still, he had to have done something. And he had a legitimate reason for thinking so. That reason being none other than waking up to the worst situation he had been forced to deal with in years.

The redhead had blinked his eyes open, feeling surprisingly well rested considering how late he went to sleep. As always, it took him a few minutes to completely wake up and get into a state of mind where he could function properly. Once he woke up, however, he immediately wished that he were back asleep.

In the few seconds that he had been conscious, Sasori realized a number of things; the first being that he was currently in his partner's bed with his body practically on top of the blond's. Upon fully processing the first realization, what could only be described as a snowball effect occurred, making the redhead's life sufficiently miserable. As soon as he realized that he was so close to Deidara, he felt the blood rush to the lower half of his body, and soon, there was an erection pressing right against the bomber's backside.

Even without the traumatic experience of their previous assignment, he had no way to explain himself. Now, it wouldn't have been a problem if his partner had stayed asleep. That being said, Sasori then made his third realization and saw that the blond was beginning to wake up, and had no idea as to what was going on. Well, for long, anyway.

For a few seconds, the best of Sasori's options seemed to be suicide. But after thinking it over for longer than that, he decided it wasn't worth the trouble.

"Ngh," Deidara groaned, pulling himself—much to Sasori's relief—further away from his partner. "...Sasori, un?" he then grumbled, rolling over so that he was facing his partner. "What are you doing here?"

The redhead's jaw nearly dropped. "I'm only following directions."

"Who—Oh."

"How are you feeling?" Sasori asked softly, eyes reflexively glancing down at the bomber's body. As soon as Deidara saw his eyes move downwards, he automatically covered up the hickeys on his chest. "I already saw them, Deidara," the redhead informed him, pulling the covers further up as he spoke. Damn, it was much colder than he would have liked.

"Sore, un," the blond grumbled before making a sad attempt to sit up. "Everywhere," he added, gingerly rubbing his sides. "Fuck this shit." Sasori rose a brow, but said nothing. "How are you doing, un?"

He honestly had to think for a moment before answering. "I don't know," he began. "I wasn't injured during our assignment, but I've been thinking quite a bit," he admitted. Why he was telling the blond this, he had no idea. But it was far too early in the morning for him to care.

"Un..." Deidara trailed off, glancing at his partner's face. "What are you thinking about?"

Sasori shrugged. "Everything."

"Lovely, un," he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Nice boner, by the way, un."

The redhead nearly choked on his own saliva, and shot up in bed. "How did you—"

"Well, when it's pressed right up against me, it's kind of hard to miss, un," the blond stated, "Oh, should I not have mentioned it? I didn't mean to embarrass you."

Sasori groaned loudly and pulled the covers over his head. "I hate you, brat."

"Your dick says otherwise, un."

"_Deidara._"

"Sorry, sorry, un." The bomber stopped for a minute, as if suddenly realizing that his back was throbbing with pain. "Do you have any more burn cream, un?"

"I'll get it," Sasori offered, practically diving out of the bed. Any excuse to get away from the kid was a good one.

"Can you put it on my back for me? I can't reach, un."

Goddamnit. "...Fine, brat." The redhead dug through his desk and pulled out the burn cream. As he began to apply it onto his partner's burns, the blond began talking about God knows what. It wasn't until he nearly slapped Sasori in the face that he forced himself to pay attention.

"Sasori, I asked you a question, un."

The puppeteer rolled his eyes. "Sorry, what?" It would, most likely, be nothing short of stupid.

Deidara turned around and tilted his head to the side, letting his hair fall over his shoulder. "Why did you storm off yesterday, un?"

"None of your business," Sasori shot back, scowling at his partner.

The blond rose a brow. "Actually, it's quite the opposite. Plus, I stayed up late because I was worried about you, un."

That statement rose more questions than it answered. Now the redhead understood why Deidara had been up so late, but it raised others. Why did the bomber even care? for example. "It's nothing."

"Bull, un. Don't give me that woman shit."

Sasori stared at him. "Brat, you are absolutely horrendous."

"What, why, un?" Deidara snapped defensively, crossing his arms over his chest. "What the fuck could I have possibly done now?"

Ignoring his comments, the redhead continued. "You make me feel...sick. And I can't tell you whether or not that's good or bad."

"...Is it my face, un?"

Sasori sighed, and slipped his arms around the blond's torso. Immediately, he could feel the boy tense up, but he tried to pay it no mind. "Turn around," he demanded, somewhat surprised when Deidara obeyed him. Without making eye contact, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against his partners, using his weight to make them fall onto the bed. A jolt of pleasure shot through his body, and he began to brush his lips against the younger man's lips. He felt Deidara hesitate for a moment, then begin to return the kiss. _Good_, the redhead thought to himself, letting his hands gently wander up and down his partner's back.

A soft moan slipped from Deidara's lips, and Sasori immediately felt the blood begin to rush to his lower regions. "Mfh," the blond grunted, letting one of his hands brush against his partner's thigh. The redhead shuddered at the touch, pulling Deidara closer.

_You're awful, Sasori. Don't you remember what happened yesterday? _The puppeteer scolded himself. But his body refused to listen to the words. It felt the pleasure from his partner's touch and kiss, and wanted more. Deidara's fingers traced circles on his upper thigh, coming daringly close to his erection. _Don't. Stop. Please..._ Sasori begged silently.

The bomber failed to hear his silent pleas, and his fingertips brushed right over the erection. Sasori moaned loudly into the kiss, grabbing a handful of blond hair as he did so. _Oh my God..._ He forced himself to break the kiss, on account that the both of them needed air. Deidara was pinned under him, looking up innocently at his partner.

"If you wanted to fuck me, you could have just asked, un," Deidara said bluntly. "Yesterday was embarrassing, but it's not like I'm traumatized. I was afraid you'd find me disgusting, so I tried to hide everything. I'm just glad you don't think I'm diseased, un."

Sasori's hands wandered down the blond's chest, careful to avoid his injuries. He traced patterns on the younger man's stomach, holding back a smirk when he arched his back. "Right now, I can't say that I'd care."

"Well? Go for it if you want, un. I won't stop you."

Much as Sasori would have _loved _to take him up on the offer, he painfully had to reject. "I can't," he forced out.

Deidara blinked once, then twice. "...Why not, un?"

"Because it's more complicated than that."

"Not really. You have a boner, you want some sort of sexual satisfaction, and you find me appealing. It's pretty simple, I think."

"As much as I would _love_ to fuck you, I can't."

"I must be missing something here, un."

"I think...I like you."

"Well, I like you too, when you're not an asshole. Why is that such a big deal, un?"

Sasori narrowed his eyes. "Are you retarded?"

"No, but I'm starting to think you are, un. What's the problem? You've never struggled with words like this. Also, judging by the way you look at me, you'd never pass up a chance to plow me into the mattress. I'm willing, and you obviously want to, un."

"Just because you're willing to do it doesn't mean you want to do it."

"Does it matter, un?"

Sasori shot him a perplexed look. "Yes!" The redhead was just as surprised as his partner to hear that response come out of his mouth.

"...Why, un?" Deidara asked, tilting his head to the side. "I can't say I've ever heard anybody say that before."

"Deidara, I absolutely despise you. You make me feel...strange, to put it simply. I don't like it. I constantly feel nauseous, but there's something comforting about it. If you're rubbing off your batshit crazy germs, I feel like sleeping with you is probably the worst thing I could do right now."

The blond thought for a moment, tapping his fingers soundlessly against the mattress. "Interesting, un. That sounds oddly familiar."

"What do you mean?"

"It sounds like you have a crush, un."

"Brat—"

"Do you love me, un?"

The two criminals stared at each other wide eyed, not sure what the other was about to do.

"I...I..." Sasori stammered, trying to avoid looking into his partner's bright blue eyes.

"Well, un?"

The redhead felt his throat growing dry, and panicked. What was he supposed to do? Naturally, he did the dumbest thing possible. "No, brat. I don't."


	18. Chapter 17

Author's Note:

Hey, so I'm going to start doing an author's note thing, I guess. It seems like it'll be fun, maybe? Idunno. But I'll give it a shot. Let me know if you guys like it!

Anyway, I haven't updated for a few days because I was on my senior trip, so I was without a computer in Washington D.C. for a couple of days. It was loads of fun, and I wrote a lot in my trusty little notebook. Yay!

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

The sting of rejection hit Deidara hard, and as soon as the words came from Sasori's mouth, he felt his heart sink.

"Oh. I want some breakfast, un," the blond said, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible. It wasn't until his back was turned and he was out the door that Deidara's facade began to crumble. Thankfully, there wasn't a soul in the kitchen, and he was able to go in and out quickly and without any attention. He grabbed an apple, but he really wasn't even hungry. The sickening feeling that was beginning to well up in his gut prevented him from developing any sort of appetite.

He took to wandering aimlessly in the halls, until he nearly stumbled into Konan. "God, Deidara, you look like shit."

"Thanks, un."

"What's wrong?" the woman asked quietly, reaching up to press her hand against the blond's face. He let her, but felt his skin crawl under the touch. He wanted to be left alone so he could roll up into a ball and die. Now that he was beginning to process what had happened between him and Sasori, a fresh wave of embarrassment began to sweep over him. So, rather than giving his friend a verbal response, he settled on shrugging. "Do you want to come with me for a little while? I'm going to go outside for a walk."

"Not really, un."

"Great, let's go!" Konan said cheerfully, grabbing Deidara and practically dragging him outside before he could protest. She sat the two of them down on a bench not far from the Akatsuki entrance, and immediately turned to face the blond. "Rough night?"

"More like 'rough morning', un," Deidara grumbled, tossing his apple up in the air and catching it with ease.

"Sasori?" Deidara nodded. "Jesus, what happened now?" she asked, eyes widening somewhat. How often were these two at each others' throats?

The blond shrugged. "Last night was horrendous. The assignment was successful, but at...rather unpleasant costs."

"Did you two kiss again?"

"Yes, but that's not it."

Konan had to mask her surprise before asking the next question. "Then what happened?"

Deidara frowned and began to hit strands of hair into his face, hoping it would hide him from the blue haired woman. "I slept with one of the guards to get us by."

"Deidara, you don't need to sell yourself out for our sake. You should have just blasted his brains out."

"I didn't want to cause a scene."

"Ah."

The blond sighed and continued. "Sasori and I got into a spat when we got back, and he didn't come back until late."

"Mhm?"

"Then, he slept next to me."

Konan stared hard at her friend, making sure that he wasn't playing some sort of a sick joke. "Pardon?"

"You heard me. Then this morning, he started acting weird as shit again, he kissed me, and he was obviously getting really into it. So I told him he could sleep with me. He said no, so I asked him why not. He started talking about shit that sounded like a crush. So I asked him if he loved me, un."

"And?"

"He said no."

She furrowed her brow. "What do you care? You always want to strangle the bastard to death, anyway."

Deidara shrugged, and thought for a moment. Then, he smiled sadly and shut his eyes. "Sometimes, you hate someone so much that you start to love them, un," he murmured, throwing back a quote that she had said upon first meeting him. When he put the words together, they were hard to say. He loved Sasori. He had been so tormented by the redhead, but he really didn't have anybody else. That, and he'd never want to go after someone like himself. Sasori was the perfect opposite in every way.

"Ouch."

Sasori, much like his partner, wasn't holding up well after their unfortunate conversation. What the hell had made him say no? The words came out before he could think about them, and they couldn't have been more wrong. He wanted to be near the bomber, to make love to him, and more importantly, to figure out what the fuck he was feeling. It was, much like Itachi had suggested, a feeling that could most closely be described as affection, and it was terrifying.

For the rest of the week, the two artists avoided each other like the plague. Even when they were in the same room for hours at a time, they refused to speak to each other. Deidara moped, while Sasori gotten the constant urge to stab himself. It was, to the redhead, nothing short of miserable. When he slept, his dreams were filled with the bomber. Sometimes, the boy was simply there, chattering away at the redhead. In others, he was all over the older man, begging for some sort of intimacy. Sasori couldn't decide which dream was worse. One left him absolutely miserable, while the other left him frustrated beyond belief.

Though he yearned to take back what he had said earlier, as soon as Deidara came into their room, he turned nasty. He tried to ignore the blond at first, but upon hearing the boy begin to pack a bag, he spun around and glowered at him. "Brat, what are you doing?"

"Going out, un."

"Where?"

"What does it matter, un?"

Sasori narrowed his eyes at the blond. "Considering that we are partners solely to make sure you don't run off, it matters quite a bit," he growled. Their relationship was regressing, getting dangerously close to where it had been when Deidara first joined the Akatsuki. The redhead ached when he thought about it, but couldn't bring himself to stop the overly cruel behavior; it was the only way he could keep himself safe from letting his emotions take control of him.

"You're not my mother."

"I know. She must have fucked you up pretty bad."

"My mother was a perfectly nice woman, un!"

Sasori rolled his eyes. "Then how did you come out of her?"

The blond shrugged it off. "I wish I knew. Regardless, I'm going out for a bit."

"I'll ask again; where?"

Deidara smirked. "I don't know. Maybe I'll get a few drinks, or find a nice whore to sleep with."

"I hate to break it to you, but I don't think you need to go out to get the second one."

"Oh. I only need my left hand, right?"

"You're catching on."

"And you're an asshole."

"Aware."

"I'll be back soon, un. Maybe."

"Don't worry, I'll drag you back here if I have to. Orders demand it, after all. I suppose I should tell you to have fun."

"You're not going to chase me, un?"

"Would you like me to?"

"Not particularly. I just assumed you'd like to make my life more miserable than it already is, un."

"Hardly. I just want you out of my sight."

Without any sort of nasty look or groan, Deidara grabbed a packed bag and left the Akatsuki base before anyone else knew that he was on his way out. Sure, he probably should have told at least Konan that he was leaving...but what did it matter? She probably wouldn't notice he was missing, right? He tried to make himself forget that he talked to the girl on a daily basis, and trudged on. It wasn't until he was far out of the city that he knew he could slow his pace.

His chest still ached, but he was beginning to get used to it. There were very few times in his life where he could remember feeling so dejected, but he couldn't remember how he ever got out of the vicious cycle of dismay that was threatening to swallow him.

As he passed the clearing where he had come into contact with the Oto guard, he couldn't help but shudder. Why was he even heading back this way? He couldn't answer that question if he tried, but he kept walking nonetheless. Passing the debris that was once the Oto base, he couldn't help but smile to himself. It was only a small fraction of what he was capable, but he was proud of his work nonetheless. He had been so efficient because he had wanted to get Sasori the hell out of there. Now, he was embarrassed about his motives, but there was nothing he could do to change them. He had done many foolish things in his life time, but this was beginning to be one of the worst by far. The others hadn't had the potential to haunt him as much as Sasori did. After all, this had to be the first time he had done something for affection-related reasons.

By the time he stopped to rest, the sun was beginning to set. He had been on the road for hours, and his phone was running low on batteries. _Good, that means they'll have a harder time trying to find me, _he said to himself, a small smirk making its way onto his face a few moments later.

With as content of a sigh as he could muster up, Deidara leaned against a massive oak tree and slid to the ground. His first romantic encounter hadn't been nearly as bad as this; at least before, the chase wasn't nearly as horrendous. After all, the blond hadn't dated a huge prick before. If anything, he was the one that usually crushed his significant other. Not the other way around. Dealing with Sasori was a whole new game, and he had no idea as to what he was doing. It was terrifying, yes, but it was also frustrating beyond belief.

More likely than not, Sasori was just fucking with him. The bomber was beginning to believe that there was no emotional depth to what the redhead was doing. Why? Because he had done the very same thing to countless people throughout his life. Now that he was on the receiving end, he almost felt bad about how cruel he had been in the past. Either way, he couldn't help but feel that Sasori—

"Hey, trespasser! What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

The blond's thoughts were cut off by the shout, and he snapped his head up to see who was approaching him. There was a man standing about a hundred feet away, with a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other.

"Oh. Sorry, un," he apologized, not in any mood for a fight. He was in the middle of nowhere. Who the hell would even own this property? "I guess I'll be on my way then, un."

"I don't think so, kid," the man growled, pointing his gun straight at Deidara.

Immediately, the bomber began planning his method of attack. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, un," he warned, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "What the hell does it matter if I'm sitting by this tree, un?" he asked, standing up as casually as he could."

"We don't want scum on our property."

"Oh?"

"You're part of the Akatsuki, aren't you?"

The blond rolled his eyes. Oh, great. "What gave you that idea, un?"

"Blond, speech impediment, practically identical to a woman...you'd be hard to miss, Deidara Iwa."

Deidara couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly. "Oh, you have a full profile, un? Who do I thank for doing such thorough research?"

"No one but yourself."

"Un?"

"As soon as you slept with one of our men, everyone heard about it. You've been on the radar for months, kid."

He blinked once, then twice. "Ah. That's...disappointing, un. I was hoping it would have been because I blew your base sky high. Assuming you're from Oto, un."

"Obviously, fucker."

"No need for such language, un. Where's Orochimaru?" he then asked.

The guard rose a brow. "Inside the base, of course."

"Why would you tell me that, un?"

The man shrugged. "If I'm going to shoot you, does it really matter what I say?"

Deidara smirked. Oh, all of these Oto thugs were the same. Cocky _and_ stupid. "That's interesting," he began, holding out his own gun and pointing it towards the guard. "See? I just drew a weapon, un. Why haven't you shot me yet?"

"We need information from you."

"Why didn't you think of that before you threatened me?"

"Most human beings desire to preserve their lives."

Deidara shrugged. "Most human beings aren't clinically insane."

The guard narrowed his eyes. "Usually if someone says their insane, it means they're stable. Don't even try to pull that one on me."

The blond smirked. "Oh, I'm just repeating what my doctors told me. I'm perfectly fine, you see? It's everyone else that's gone wrong. After all, how valuable is a human life, really? There's billions left on the planet to take their place, un," he began, thrilled when the guard became visibly uncomfortable. "Why are you shocked? Doesn't Orochimaru follow the same ideas, un?" To this, the guard had no reply. "I'd offer to sleep with you so you'd leave me alone, but I'm not in the mood. I'd rather just blow you to pieces, un."

"My, you're certainly the interesting little boy."

At the unfamiliar voice, both the guard and Deidara paled. It was smooth, composed, and dangerous. The blond was by no means scared, but his entire body immediately went on guard. From behind his current opponent, a man stepped out of the forest. He had long, evenly parted black hair, and a thin, sickly looking face. He must have been wearing white face paint, with purple markings around his eyes. He looked, to put it simply, like a humanized snake.

He didn't need to speak again for the blond to know he was a huge threat. He moved his gun from pointing at the guard to pointing at the new enemy. "Piss off, un," he growled, trying his best to hold his ground.

"Feisty. No wonder Sasori likes you so much."

Deidara scowled. "Sasori and I are nothing more than acquaintances."

The man smiled, then laughed heartily. "Many of my men would beg to differ. Though I will admit I'm surprised he's getting along so well with a fool. He never liked partners, even the competent ones."

As soon as the words left the snake-like man's mouth, everything clicked. "You're Orochimaru, un," he growled, finger moving to the trigger. One shot, and he'd take down Akatsuki's biggest rival. But curiosity overwhelmed him, and he failed to pull the trigger. Seeming to know that the blond wouldn't shoot, Orochimaru stepped forward, making no move to pull out his weapons.

"And you are Deidara Iwa. It's a pleasure to see you alive and kicking. I was afraid you had finally snapped and thrown yourself into a suicide assignment," he purred, giving the blond a look that made him want to vomit. No wonder Sasori hadn't liked this guy.

"Not for Akatsuki's sake, un," the blond retorted.

"Oh? Because it seemed that you were absolutely vicious when we put your partner's life in danger."

"The past and the present are very different things, un."

"Yes, yes, I suppose I could agree," Orochimaru mused, running a hand through his hair. "Where is he now?"

Deidara shrugged. "Probably back at Akatsuki, un."

"Good, that way he won't hear you scream."

Sasori stretched out on his bed before checking his watch. Where the fuck had Deidara gone? The brat had been gone for half of the day, and made no attempt to contact him. With a heavy sigh, he got up off of the bed. He should probably as Konan before going to bed. Waking up to find that the blond was still missing was the last thing he wanted.

He made his way through the Akatsuki, and found Konan sitting in the living room next to Pein. The two of them were looking over papers, with Konan leaning on her boyfriend's shoulder. They were whispering quietly amongst themselves, and didn't look up at Sasori until he cleared his throat. "What're you up to?" he asked casually, leaning against the wall across from them.

"Looking over your next assignment, actually. What do you want?" Pein asked, knowing full well that the only reason the redhead was talking to them was because of a personal matter.

He shrugged. "Have you seen Deidara?"

Both of them shook their heads. "No. Isn't he in your room?" Pein asked, raising a brow.

"Last time I checked, he was going out for a walk."

"So? He'll be back in a few minutes."

"He's been gone for eight hours."

Konan's eyes widened. "Shit..."

"He's gone, isn't he?" Sasori inquired, sighing softly not long after he finished his sentence.

Pein stood up immediately. "You need to find him. Immediately." Though he knew Deidara's whereabouts was an important matter, he hadn't expected Pein to react so frantically. "Oto is threateningly close to your last location. They're situated in a base not even a mile from the previous one, and there's no doubt that they're investigating the debris to find out what happened, if they don't know already. If Deidara is anywhere near there, he's fucked, to put it simply."

Sasori could do nothing but nod. "I...I'll go find him."


	19. Chapter 18

Deidara wanted to shoot, but before he could, he found Orochimaru only centimeters away from him, grabbing him by the nape of his neck. "You don't have very good reflexes, boy," Orochimaru commented, squeezing the blond's flesh. "I have to say...A dead cat probably would have reacted faster than you."

The bomber scowled. "No wonder you and Sasori worked so well together, un." This guy was a creep, but he had a striking resemblance to the redhead. They were both assholes, for one, and they knew how to piss Deidara off without actually doing anything.

"What, you aren't worried about getting your neck snapped in half?"

"I'm under the impression that you like to play with your victims before you slaughter them, un," he mumbled,

Orochimaru smiled, obviously amused. "Sasori must have told you quite a bit."

"Actually, it's pretty obvious, un."

"Regardless. The two of you must be close."

"What's it to you, un?"

"As I told you, I find it interesting that my acquaintance is interested in such a moron."

Deidara narrowed his eyes. "He's not, un."

"I beg to differ. You two were terribly close at that ball, were you not? And you seemed rather eager to stop a bullet for him," Orochimaru replied, a smile twisting on the edge of his lips. Already, he knew he was hitting a sensitive spot. Sometimes, words did more than weapons and fists ever could.

"Shut up, un. You know that's a load of shit."

"I wouldn't say so. Sasori never gets that close to other human beings. Even for work."

Deidara, though what he said seemed quite likely, had trouble believing what Orochimaru was telling him. It didn't seem to make sense that Sasori had any sort of problem manipulating other human beings, whether it be in a dignifying manner or not. "Unlikely, un."

"I can tell you that he definitely wouldn't stoop as low as you. At least he has self respect."

For a moment, the blond considered lunging forward and punching his opponent. The only thing keeping him from doing so was the fact that Orochimaru had the perfect grip to snap the blond's neck if he so desired. When he didn't say anything, the snake-like man continued speaking.

"Sasori has always been a bit...distant. How has he been with you?" he asked, trying to start small talk. Possibly in one of the worst situations possible, too. "Or would you prefer not to tell me about your sexual encounters?"

One punch and a shocked cry later, Orochimaru was a few feet away from the blond, clutching his now bleeding face. "Jesus, you have one hell of a right hook," he growled, catching the blood that had already begun to drip from his nose. "Did I hit a soft spot?"

"Fuck you, un."

"Foul, just like I imagined. But I'm not surprised that you always have fucking on the mind."

At this, Deidara's eyes widened. He was furious, at the very least. He began to shake after he landed the last punch, not sure of what his next move was going to be. The next time Orochimaru looked at him, there was a calm, almost amused look on his face. "Want me to wipe that look off your face, asshole, un?" Deidara growled.

"Don't get cocky because you landed a punch, faggot. Isn't it possible that I let you hit me?"

"That's ridiculous, un."

"I find amusement in the strangest ways, Deidara," Orochimaru hissed back, smirking. Within the next second, they were mere inches apart. "So tell me, which do you value more: your stomach or your lungs?"

"Damaging either would be lethal, so does it really matter, un?"

"Which bleeds out faster?"

"How the fuck would I—"

Before the blond could finish his sentence, a flash of pain shot through his midsection, causing him to gasp out. A howling noise came from deep inside his throat, and he looked down to find a blade digging into his side. He tried to grab it and push it away, but that only made Orochimaru dig it deeper into him. "I'm surprised you didn't see that. Conversation distracts you easily, I see."

"Un..." Deidara grunted, squeezing his eyes shut as if it would lessen the pain. God damnit, he hadn't even seen Orochimaru move to attack him. How had he been so careless?

"Where would you like me to stab you next? Or should I wait and seek out your partner?" Orochimaru inquired, digging the blade deeper into his victim's side.

Another howl came from the blond's lips. "Don't go near him, un. I'll fucking _kill_ you."

"My, you're protective. I'd expect it to be the other way around."

Whether it was the pain or Orochimaru's words, Deidara quickly began to feel himself reach a whole new level of fury. His head was light, and his vision was dancing in front of him, but the desire to fight was increasing rapidly. He wanted that man's head detached from the rest of his body. He wanted his blood pooling on the ground beneath his feet. And more than anything else, he wanted to hear the bastard beg for mercy that Deidara had no intention of showing.

With a shriek, the blond shot forward and slammed his head against Orochimaru's, sending the Oto leader stumbling backwards once more. The blade released itself from his side, sending fresh blood pouring from the wound. Determined not to give him a chance to attack, Deidara slammed his foot into the man's chest, successfully knocking the air from his lungs. "God damn it, I want you fucking dead, un!" he screamed, falling forward so that he was on top of Orochimaru.

The man opened his mouth to say something, only to be stopped by a punch to the jaw. Then, Deidara's arms latched onto his shoulders, pulling until he heard two sickening pops and a satisfying scream. "You dislocated my arms!"

"I know, un," Deidara said, smirking wildly. "Let me draw some blood, too," he growled, letting his nails dig into the gang leader's shoulders. He felt his skin break through the flesh, relishing in the feeling of the blood beginning to seep under his fingernails. "Do _not_ try to harm Sasori. Don't even _think_ about even going near him. I will fucking end you, you good for nothing piece of _shit_, un."

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Sasori had thought he experienced the extent of his partner's insanity before. He specifically remembered thinking that Pein had been a fool for putting such stress on the bomber's mental condition. He was bizarre, but he wasn't by any means crazy. But now, the redhead found that he had been wrong. His partner looked crazed, wide eyes darting in every direction, as if he were trying to take the world in all at once. At the same time, he was focused mainly on Orochimaru, body twitching slightly whenever he thought the snake-like man was about to move. They were both on the ground, and though Deidara was on top of the gang leader, it was anybody's game.

Had it been anyone else, Sasori would have thought that his partner had won. Orochimaru, however, was much slicker than the boy probably expected.

That being said, he wasn't surprised to find a gun pressed against Deidara's skull the next time he blinked. What shocked him the most wasn't that his partner was in a life threatening position, but that the bomber hadn't even flinched. In fact, a smile was beginning to form on his lips. "Go ahead, " Deidara taunted, laughing wildly. "Go ahead and shoot me, you fucker, un!"

"I'd blow your brains out, but where's the fun in that? I can't imagine Sasori reacting to such a quick loss of a lover."

Deidara laughed at this, to the point where tears were beginning to well up in his eyes. "Oh, that's adorable. Well, how about this, un?" The blond stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small clay bird. "Look. I can set this off, and blow the both of us to smithereens."

Orochimaru rose a brow, hardly amused.

"Do you think I'm kidding, un? I can't say I value my life any more than I value yours," Deidara stated bluntly. "I am expendable. You? Well. I don't know you well enough to determine that, un."

The snake-like man's eyes flickered to either side of him. Rather than giving a verbal response, he seized Deidara by the throat and pulled him forward, only to hear the bang of a gun not a moment later.

The blond's eyes widened, and he coughed weakly, surprised to find that blood had just come out of his mouth and splattered all over his opponent. _The hell?_ He stared at the blood wide eyed, and began to feel an intense stinging in his back, painful to make him feel like he was going to cry out. In a delayed reaction, he cried out and tried to reach for the wound, but couldn't place his hands on it. "Fuck, un..." he groaned.

"That was an unfortunate miss, Sasori," the blond heard, but hardly processed the words. Had...Sasori shot him? He couldn't for the life of him figure out what had happened. His mind was working overtime, trying to keep him conscious. Everything else was unimportant; if he lost consciousness, he wasn't sure he'd survive.

Deidara felt himself get tossed to the ground, and his wound throbbed even more, screaming for some sort of relief. He tried to move and lessen the pain, but felt everything begin to go black before he could do anything.

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Sasori held his gun in his hand, staring dumbfounded at the scene in front of him. What the fuck had just happened? He was sure he had just fired at Orochimaru's head...how was the bullet now in Deidara's back?

Orochimaru stood up, letting Deidara crumple to the ground. "I suppose he was going to die either way. Although it's interesting that you're going to be the one responsible. Might as well just shoot him again and end it quick, don't you think?" the Oto leader suggested, staring at a quickly bleeding out Deidara.

"I...Oh God..."

Orochimaru shrugged nonchalantly. "You may leave if you'd like. I'd stop you, but it'll be more fun watching you try to save the fool's life." With that, Orochimaru turned his back to the redhead, disappearing before Sasori could fire another shot at him.

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Deidara blinked his eyes open, only to find himself in the Akatsuki base. Konan was sitting beside him, cleaning of a set of surgical knives. Watching her, he slowly began to realize that he w as in the hospital area. And alive, no less.

"You pulled through rather nicely."

"...Where's Sasori, un?"

Konan shrugged. "Probably getting a couple grams from Itachi. He's been stoned since he got back." She continued cleaning the knives. "Where were you two? Pein's absolutely furious that Kakuzu and I had to perform an emergency surgery with no sort of preparation whatsoever."

"It was personal business, un."

"One doesn't get shot on personal business. How did you get injured?"

Deidara paused for a moment. He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember. He saw Orochimaru grab him and pull him down...there was pain, and then nothing. "Ask Sasori, un."

"I tried."

"I'll ask him, un."

"He's an absolute wreck, Deidara. Just go back to sleep."

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Deidara finally made his way to consciousness, this time feeling a bit less drugged up and more aware of his surroundings. This time, there was no one in the room with him. Rather, there was a note card sitting on his lap.

You're permitted to leave the surgical area. Be careful! ~ Konan

His body still ached, but he ignored the feeling and pulled himself out of the hospital bed. Despite the paint that came with moving, he didn't want to spend any more time than he needed to in this place. The white walls and overly sterile appearance of the room was enough to make him uncomfortable.

As he made his way through the base, he couldn't help but observe his bandages. His whole torso was practically covered thanks to not only the wound in his side, but the bullet hole in his back. At this rate, he wasn't going to see his own chest for a few weeks.

With a sigh, he shook his head. What was he going to do about it? Shrugging off the unfortunate circumstances, he pushed his door open.

Sasori spun around as soon as he heard Deidara. He was furious, the blond had no doubt about that. "Deidara..." he began, squeezing his eyes shut as he spoke. Not good.

"Yes, un?"

In one swift move, Sasori slapped the blond in the face hard enough to send him stumbling backwards. The bomber slammed a hand over the wounded flesh, crying out more from shock than the pain of the blow. Letting his guard down by focusing on his face, he felt two hands firmly grab his shirt and slam him against the wall. "What the _hell_ were you _thinking_?!" Sasori bellowed, repeatedly slamming the blond against the wall.

"Sasori, my back—"

"Shut _up_! You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Like that fucking matters, un!"

That got him another slap in the face. "What the hell made you think that was a good idea?" Sasori hissed. "I've told you about him. _Why_ would you try and fight him like that? And on your own, no less!"

Deidara shrugged. "I was angry, un."

The redhead rolled his eyes and scowled viciously. His hand twitched, and the bomber expected to get struck in the face again. He flinched, somewhat surprised when he didn't feel anything.

"Brat..." he growled, but rather than harming the blond, Sasori released his grip. "You are so, _so_ stupid."

"I...I'm sorry, un," Deidara gasped out, letting himself slump to the floor. "I don't know what I was thinking, un," he admitted.

"No shit."

"Why are you so angry, un?"

"It was my fault."

"Oh, here we go again, un."

"You were angry because of what I said."

"No shit, Sherlock, un."

Sasori ignored his partner's sarcastic remarks. "But what did I say?"

"...Are you kidding me, un?" the blond spat, looking as if he were about to move across the room and strike his partner down. "Are you _fucking_ kidding me?"

"I say so many things to infuriate you, I was just wondering what specific instance pushed you over the edge. Though I think already have an idea," Sasori said, watching the blond carefully.

"You _sleep_ next to me, you attempt to sleep _with _me, you start acting extremely nice, and you start acting like you goddamn _care_, un" Deidara began, hitting his hand against his leg as he spoke. He was beginning to get worked up now. "Then, after all that, you _refuse_ to sleep with me, even though you were the one to put us in a compromising position. 'Why the fuck not?' I asked. 'Oh, because I just _can't_.' 'Do you love me, un?' 'No, Deidara. I don't.' You sick mother fucking bastard, un!"

Yeah. Sasori had been right. He approached his partner and reached out his hand towards him, only to have it—not surprisingly—slapped away. "Deidara—"

The blond held up a hand. "I'm not done. You know, I wouldn't mind all of this shit. Really, I've been through all of this before, and I've brushed it off my shoulder without a second thought. But _you._ You always knew how to crush me, un."

"Deidara, what are you talking about?"

"I wanted you to say yes, un."

"_What_?!"

Deidara turned away from his partner, and let out a pained sound. "I hope you burn in hell, un."

"You're not getting out of this that easily. What the fuck, Deidara?"

The blond spun back around and scowled, viciously enough to make his partner stop in his tracks. "Well, _excuse_ me for falling in love with you. I'm just so fucking _sorry_ that I managed to develop a crush on the biggest fucking dick in this whole goddamn gang, un! Do you think I _want_ to feel like this? I don't fucking _want_ this to hurt so much. I don't _want _to care about you. But every time I try to stop, you do something stupid and make me fall in love with you all over again, un!"

"Deidara—"

"Shut up, you bastard, un!"

"Stop acting like a mother fucking woman!"

"Then why don't you stop acting like an asshole!"

"Because I _am_ an asshole, you idiot!"

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean, un?!"

Sasori let out a frustrated groan and bolted forward, grabbing his partner before he could object. He held the boy close to him, barely able to keep him put amidst his struggling.

"Fucking hell, let go of me, Sasori."

"Deidara."

"I swear to God, if you don't release me this instant, I'll make sure you wear your insides on the outside, un."

"Deidara."

"You are such a prick, I can't believe you would—"

"**Deidara!**"

"What, goddamnit?!"

"I love you."

The three words were enough to make the both of them freeze, staring at each other in shock. Deidara because he didn't know if he had actually heard the words right, and Sasori because he didn't know that they had just come out of his mouth.

When the two composed themselves, it was Deidara who spoke first. His eyes were closed, with one of his hands pressed firmly over them. "You don't have to lie to me, un. I don't know what you're thinking, trying to pull this one on me, but it's not okay. You can lie to me about other things, but this is just ridiculous. You don't even _like_ me, Sasori."

"Deidara, I'm not—"

"Don't treat me like an idiot, un."

"Brat, why the hell would I lie about this?"

"I don't know, maybe now you decided that you want to get laid, un. You're such an ass all of the time that I know it's not genuine affection you're trying to show me right now, un."

Sasori blinked a few times before hugging the blond even tighter. "Deidara...why did you get mad when Orochimaru threatened me?"

"Unlike you, I don't have the emotions of a rock, un. I'm sure you're smart enough to get it."

"...I thought so."

"What?"

"I love you."

"Fuck off, un."

"Deidara, please."

At this, Deidara's eyes widened. What the hell had gotten into his partner all of a sudden. "What do you want, un?"

"You."

"Cute, un," the blond said, rolling his eyes.

Sasori let his fingers run through the bomber's hair, surprised when the boy didn't try to push him away. He must have finally given up on his escape plans. "You want me to love you. Why won't you just accept it?"

"That's easy; you keep screwing me over, un."

The redhead frowned. "I worry about you. You're so...stupid, for lack of a better word. You don't think, you always charge into things head first without a plan, and you throw yourself into unnecessary danger."

"What do you care?"

"Believe it or not, I don't want to have to bury you, brat," Sasori murmured, yanking on the blond's hair so that the two of them were staring straight at each other. "I don't know what I'd do if you died, Deidara."

The blond was tempted to laugh, briefly believing that his partner was telling a joke. It wasn't until he looked Sasori straight in the face and saw that there wasn't a bit of humor lingering in his expression.

Deidara's eyes widened, and he felt his jaw begin to drop. All at once, the realization that the redhead was telling the truth hit him full force. His stomach clenched, and he panicked. What was he supposed to do?

Rather than saying something sarcastic like the blond had expected, Sasori leaned forward and pressed their lips together, letting his tongue make its way into his partner's mouth. He let his hands drop so that they rested loosely on the bomber's waist, glad to feel said man's hands snake up to wrap around his torso.

Deidara felt jittery, wanting desperately for some sort of movement. His body began to shake slightly, and Sasori noticed. "Are you okay?" the redhead asked, breaking their kiss just long enough to get the words out. Before the boy could respond, he was trapped in another kiss.

"Mfh..." Deidara moaned, grabbing handfuls of his partner's hair, pulling them closer together.

When they finally broke apart, they stared wide eyed at each other. Gently, Sasori moved his partner over to the bed and laid himself down before pulling the blond on top of him. He would have pushed Deidara into the mattress, but the last thing he wanted to do was further irritate his back injury. The bomber sat on top of Sasori, straddling him.

Almost as if he were unsure of what he was doing, Deidara leaned forward and kissed his partner again. His body was throbbing, both with pain and pleasure. There was no room to doubt Sasori's words. Besides, he felt wonderful, and he wanted nothing to compromise this moment.


	20. Chapter 19

Author's Note:

So, I kind of haven't updated in a week. Oops. I have two (maybe) good reasons, though!

1) Senior project. I needed to sew a bunch of stuff. If I don't finish the project, I don't graduate. And if I don't graduate, I'll probably cry. Forever.

2) Boston Marathon bombing. I live in MA, and I'm going to college in Boston next year, so the whole thing hit me hard, I think. I kind of lost my drive to write for a little while, since I had a whole flood of emotions, and I was constantly glued to the television to watch the news.

Also, I haven't done this lemon thing in a while. So sorry if it's a bit rough. No pun intended. :'D

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Once he stepped out of the shower, Deidara observed his torso in the mirror. It was the first time in weeks that he had been allowed to remove the bandages. Thankfully, he kept out of the sun, so his skin tone was even. As far as his battle wounds went, he had a slight scar on his side from where he had been stabbed, and a scar on his back shaped exactly like a bullet hole. He wasn't exactly thrilled about his new scars, but it wasn't the first time he'd have to deal with them. His legs, especially, were covered in marks from previous skirmishes.

He dried his hair the best he could, and ran his fingers through it to get the tangles out. His face looked tired, but it wasn't something a little makeup couldn't fix. As quickly as he could, he got himself ready. Even at the speed he was moving, he wasn't surprised to find Sasori waiting for him at his desk. "Slow as ever, brat."

"I hurried this time, un," the blond grumbled. "When do we have to talk to Pein?"

"Two hours."

"Then why did you rush me, un!?" Deidara practically screamed. What the hell, he had just rushed for nothing!

"You look like a woman, and you take just as long as one to get ready," Sasori explained, as if it were something the blond had already known. "Now you don't have to worry about being late."

Deidara scowled, but made his way over to his partner. "Fuck you, un."

"Would you like me to make it up to you?" Sasori asked, grabbing the blond by his waist. He had yet to put on a shirt, and his skin was warm against his partner's hands. When Deidara only shot him a puzzled look, he smiled. "A bit slow today, are we?"

"Shut up, un."

Obeying the blond, Sasori brought their lips together, silencing them both. His tongue ran over Deidara's lips, pushing past his teeth and into his mouth. His hands wandered up and down the bomber's body, standing up so that he could take control. Immediately, he began forcing his partner backwards, until his legs hit the edge of his mattress. Deidara stopped moving, and Sasori took it as an indication that it was safe to throw the blond backwards onto the bed.

What he hadn't planned for was Deidara switching positions at the last minute so that the blond landed on top of him. Sasori smirked, thoroughly amused. If the bomber thought he was going to take charge that easily, he had another thing coming. Before the boy could even do anything, he was thrown into the mattress.

Deidara didn't mind, really. It was less work for him this way. That, and he loved the feeling of being trapped beneath Sasori. Something about it gave him an insane rush, and his erection was good evidence of that.

The redhead pushed their hips together, forcing a moan from Deidara's lips. Without any warning, he moved forward, trying desperately to take off Sasori's clothing. As soon as he had his partner's shirt off, the blond brought him back down, lips brushing against the puppeteer's neck. Sasori shuddered, dragging his fingernails down his boyfriend's body. The blond's back arched, and he lunged forward to tear off the rest of his partner's clothes, wanting desperately to feel the warmth of his skin.

Before he could even get the boy's pants unzippered, Deidara found himself pinned back down, with his clothes being mercilessly torn from his body. All the while, Sasori's mouth attacked his skin, biting and kissing wherever he could reach. "Sasori, un..." the blond groaned, body jolting with pleasure every time he felt Sasori's body against his. The redhead smirked down at him, throwing Deidara's clothes to the side. Slowly, Sasori took in the sight beneath him. "What, you wanted to see me naked first, un?"

"Yeah, something like that," Sasori whispered, letting the blond take off the rest of his clothing. As soon as the redhead got back on top of his partner, he couldn't help but moan at the sensation of their bare flesh touching. The warmth spread across Deidara's body, and blood rushed to his lower regions, giving him an erection that pressed right against Sasori's hips. "Excited?" he asked, as if only mildly amused. With one of his hands, he reached down and brushed a finger up the blond's length.

The boy squirmed beneath him, squeezing his eyes shut. "Hn..."

After a few more strokes, Sasori slid down the blond's body and flicked his tongue out so it brushed against the tip of his partner's erection. A loud moan slipped from Deidara's lips, only to grow even louder when he let his tongue run up and down the length of it.

A moment later gh groaned, eyes squeezing shut when he felt Sasori's mouth wrap around his cock. The heat was driving him insane...everything felt so good. His erection throbbed, sending pleasure coursing through his body. "Sasori, un..." he moaned, throwing his hands forward so they tangled themselves in his partner's red hair. "Ahh!" Pleasure built up deep inside of him, and just when he felt like it was going to burst, Sasori pulled away. "Don't stop, un," he begged, biting his lip to hold back any other noises.

"I don't want you to get tired out yet, Dei," the redhead purred, moving up to blow hot air into Deidara's ear.

The bomber inhaled sharply. "Hurry up and fuck me, un."

"Demanding, and impatient. You're starting to act like me," Sasori murmured, letting his hands run down the blond's back, being sure to let his fingers linger around the arch of his back. Sure enough, Deidara squirmed, and bit his lip.

Without the redhead realizing it, Deidara had managed to slip his hand down, and grab at his erection. He had to keep himself from shouting at first, but made no move to stop the blond. The boy pumped at his cock, sending waves of pleasure coursing through his lower body. Sasori moaned softly, enjoying the touch of his partner on his skin. "Deidara..."

"Fuck me, un."

"Impatient, impatient." The puppeteer rolled his eyes before spreading his boyfriend's legs apart. Moving so that his arms were wrapped tightly around the blond's torso, he got the both of them into a comfortable position. Sasori gave his boyfriend a quick peck on the lips before thrusting inside of him. Rather than screaming like he had expected him to, Deidara inhaled sharply, and locked his arms around his partner. His body was tense, but a smile was plastered on his face. The redhead froze for a moment, not sure of what to do.

"Keep going, un," the blond moaned, nails digging into the redhead's back.

Doing as he was told, Sasori slowly began thrusting in and out of his partner, grabbing onto the blond tighter as the pleasure grew. Everything was warm, and Deidara's breath on his skin was driving him insane. Quickly, his thrusts became harder and faster, and the blond's legs were locked tightly around him.

For a moment, he paused and pulled Deidara into a deep kiss, adjusting the blond on his lap as he did so. The boy was panting heavily, and could only kiss for a few seconds at a time before he had to move away for air. "Sasori...you feel so _good, _un," Deidara moaned, rocking his hips so that the redhead was moving inside of him.

Sasori smirked, and thrusted into his partner once more, directly hitting his prostate. The blond let out a yell, surprising the both of them at first. Stars danced in front of Deidara's vision, and his body became overwhelmed with a feeling of pleasure he could hardly handle. A few thrusts later, and the boy could hardly control his body. "_Sasori_!" he screamed, digging his nails into the redhead's back as he felt an orgasm sweep through his entire body. He came all over the both of their stomachs, trying to stifle a scream when Sasori continued to thrust in and out of him. "Oh my _God_, un," he groaned, unable to handle the feelings that were coursing through his body.

A few thrusts later, Sasori inhaled sharply and came inside of the blond. Still inside of the boy, he found himself gasping for air, and overcome by feelings of both weariness and absolute bliss. "Fuck, Deidara," he groaned before crashing their lips together. Gently, he pulled away from his boyfriend and brushed a few strands of blond hair out of the boy's face. Sweat had begun to form on his hairline, and he was breathing heavily, face covered in a deep blush.

Deidara leaned forward, and kissed the redhead again. "I love you, un."

"I love you too, Dei," Sasori whispered.

For a moment, the two of them sat there, unsure of what to do next. Then, a thought suddenly came to him. "When were we supposed to talk to Pein, un!?" he gasped, looking around wildly for a clock.

Casually, Sasori checked his watch. "Thirty minutes."

"...I...I can't talk to him like this, un," the blond groaned, letting himself fall against Sasori.

"He can wait."

"What, un?"

Before the blond could say anything else, he was back underneath Sasori, trapped in a rough kiss. Maybe missing one of their meetings wouldn't be so bad.


	21. Epilogue

Well. This is it. Sorry I didn't update for like...a month, though. I don't even know what that was.  
But! I want to say thank you to everyone who reviewed this story, and to all of the people who read it. All of your comments made me smile, and I hope that you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it :) I have some new ideas to work with, so I'll be posting a new story or two soon~

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Konan made her way through the halls of the Akatsuki headquarters, grumbling obscenities under her breath. Sasori and Deidara had missed an _incredibly_ important meeting with Pein, and she was sent to go and fetch them. God forbid that man do anything on his own. Yes, she loved him, but it was, at times, a challenge. Especially when she was in the middle of one of her overly complicated origami projects.

With a heavy sigh, she knocked on the door of the two artists, rolling her eyes when she didn't hear an answer. Great, they must have overslept. That was going to go over well with their leader. She let one more sigh slip through her lips before turning the doorknob and thrusting the door open.

"God damnit, you two, you're supposed to be—Oh my _God!_" Konan screeched, covering her eyes the best she could. Quickly, she turned around, face beet red from what she had seen. Specifically, Sasori and Deidara in the middle of a heated make-out session, completely nude.

By the time she had turned around, the two had had the decency to quickly pull on some pants and sit cross legged in front of her, just as flustered as she was. "Sorry, un..." Deidara apologized, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. His cheeks were beginning to turn red, and he had no idea what to say.

"I don't know what's worse, telling Pein that you didn't come to our meeting because you overslept, or because you were too busy fucking," she groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"That's a tough one," Sasori murmured, eyes closed. The situation didn't hit him too hard; after all, he had been in more compromising positions before. "But it must be important, if you're staying here after our...display," he commented, opening one eye to look at her.

"Unfortunately."

"Let's hear it."

Konan took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Obviously, Pein spent a large amount of time focusing on your run in with Orochimaru. Due to your rash actions and provocations, we assumed that we would have to do some sort of offensive maneuver in order to protect the Akatsuki."

"Un?"

"That, however, will not be the case." Sasori furrowed his brow, but said nothing. Instead, he let Konan continue. "Orochimaru, if our sources are correct, has been murdered."

For what seemed like an eternity, everyone in the room was silent. Deidara was dumbfounded, Sasori simply didn't know what to say, and Konan was waiting for a reaction.

In the end, it was Deidara who spoke first. "But...what happened, un?"

"One of his men went rogue. Yakushi Kabuto, to be more specific. The experiments must have driven him insane, and he just...snapped."

"Un..."

Sasori nodded slowly. "So where does that bring us?"

"Obviously, we have a new threat if Kabuto is now in charge of Oto. But, at this point, we're going to have to wait and see how he plans on running the gang. He could try to provoke us, or he might just fade into the shadows and let the organization dissolve. Only time will tell. We'll keep on our toes, but nothing more than that," Konan explained, speaking slowly so that the two men in front of her had time to absorb the words. When they said nothing, she smiled nervously and excused herself from the room.

"Sasori..."

"Hm?" the redhead grunted, turning to look at his boyfriend. The bomber was just sitting there, a small smile on his face. "What, Dei?"

"I don't know. I'm just...happy, un."

"You should be."

"Come here, un."

Doing as he was told, Sasori moved closer to the blond. Without protesting, he let the younger man pull him close and run his tongue over the redhead's lips. They both smirked into the kiss, and pulled each other closer. It was like a game, to see who would come out as the dominant one. As usual, Sasori won.

As their mouths worked against each other, they were content. Oto was subdued, and they had God knows how much time to spend with each other. It seemed, for the moment, that things couldn't get any better.


End file.
